Twist of Fate
by Zeros-Princess
Summary: Vampire Knight setting and characters with someone new! XD also a few people from other mangas and animes:
1. New School, New Faces

Beautiful white snow covered everything and more fell from the sky. It was dark and cold and I shouldn't have been out anyway, but I was. I was almost home when a man came up out of nowhere. He looked down at me and smiled.

"May I?" he asked.

He grabbed me and went for my throat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I woke up screaming. I immediately grabbed my throat to be sure I wasn't bleeding.

"Raven!"

My brother, Senri, dove into my room with a silver, magic traced knife and his fangs showing. He looked around and checked all the windows before dropping the knife and coming over to my bed. He gently rubbed my shoulder and pried my fingers from around my neck.

"It's alright, Rae." he assured me.

I shook my head and smiled apologetically.

"You should know it's just me dreaming, Senri." I said.

"Yea, well, I wanna be sure." he flopped down next to me and ruffled my hair. "I'd feel really awful if something did happen to you and I never came."

I smiled at my brother. We're twins but we look nothing alike. He's tall, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed. I'm not really short, but I'm about a foot shorter than him with black hair and red eyes. Yes, red eyes. I have to wear colored contacts so I won't freak anyone out. The only thing Senri and I have in common, is we're both vampires. Our whole family is pureblood. We've all got some kind of talent or power, but again, I'm the weird one. I can do anything….basically. It takes a lot of practice to keep my powers under control. I'm getting really good which means Mom and Dad will send me to Cross Academy with Senri. It's a private school with a day class for humans and a night class for vampires. Senri told me that a few of the vampires are allowed in the day and night class. Of course, the humans don't know.

"Ugh." I groaned.

"What?" Senri asked. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to go to Cross Academy." I whined.

Senri laughed and the light glinted off his still extended fangs.

"You have to Rae. You're a vampire by blood, even if you don't act like one. And besides, it's really nice there."

Senri had been enrolled last year, but I hadn't. Mom had made me wait which I really didn't mind. I'm not like other vampires, obviously.

"Senri," I started, "They'll know."

"No they won't. I promise." he smiled and stood up. "Now get ready, we leave in an hour."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An hour and a half later we waved goodbye to our mom. I felt out of place even though I was wearing the same black uniform as everyone else in the day class. Senri insisted on carrying my stuff, so I had a death grip on his free hand.

"Calm down before you break me, geesh."

I loosened my grip and took a half step away. He felt bad, I could feel it, so he gave my hand a little squeeze.

"It's gonna be ok Raven." he whispered. "It's just like regular high school."

"Just add blood sucking vampires, right?" I added only half joking.

"Raven, we're good vampires." he reminded me. "We don't do that."

"That's what scares me Senri." I admitted. "I look like the bad vampire. My fangs stay out and my eyes are always red. I don't even drink blood! I'm the different one."

Senri stopped and looked me in the eyes.

"Different is good, Rae. Everyone here is different. We're vampires for God's sake!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Senri smiled and led me into the main lobby. Almost immediately people started staring. At first I was afraid I didn't have my contacts, but then I blinked and felt them. I tried telling myself I was ok, but it wasn't working. I was about to tell Senri that I couldn't do this, when someone came running up to us.

"Senri!" the guy yelled.

"Hey isn't that-"

"Kaname!" Senri yelled, cutting me off.

I let go off Senri so they could shake hands or whatever. Kaname looked at me and winked. I blushed and looked down at my feet. I had met Kaname last year when Senri came home for Christmas. He's tall with light brown hair and matching eyes. He's really nice so he's easy to like. Senri draped his arm around me and squeezed.

"Kaname, you remember my twin sister, Raven"

I looked up to see his reaction.

"Of course I do." he said. "Raven?"

He held out his hand for me so I placed my right hand in his grasp. He gently kissed my knuckles, which made me blush again.

"Hey Kaname." I sighed.

He smiled before turning to talk to Senri. I honestly didn't care to listen to them, so I scanned my surroundings inconspicuously. It looked like any usual high school hallway complete with lockers, restrooms, and of course, kids. We were across from an open classroom, and I just couldn't help myself from looking in. There were a few people in groups talking, but one guy was all by himself in a desk beside the window. His hair was a silver-ish white and his eyes were an impossible shade of lavender. They were beautiful. He looked at me and I blushed with embarrassment. I hated when people stared at my eyes, so I knew he must feel the same way.

"Raven," Senri called. "Let's go."

I turned and nodded. Senri waved at Kaname as we walked away.

"See you later Raven." he smiled.

"Bye Kaname." I muttered.

I couldn't help but look back in that classroom, and the guy with purple eyes was looking after me.


	2. First Day

"So you're Raven Shiki."

I looked up at my professor and nodded.

"Please, call me Vitalanie." I insisted.

The professor smiled at me and offered his hand.

"I'm Professor Umagi."

Instinctively, I gave him my right hand, then realized my mistake when he gasped. The back of my hand was branded with strange tattoos I'd had since birth. People tended to react badly to them, so naturally I hid them. Kaname was the only one to be calm when he first saw them. I pulled my hand to my chest and looked away.

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"No, no." Professor Umagi stuttered. "Forgive me child. I should act more civilized.

He slowly reached for my hand and this time he smiled warmly at me. I smiled back, thankful he didn't press the issue of my hand.

"Well Vitalanie," he said."You may sit wherever you wish."

I started towards the back of the room, when I saw Kaname was at me. He smiled and motioned to the empty desk beside him. I smile d back, grateful to have someone I knew. I slid into the desk and realized I was by a window

**"Oh great." I thought. "Now I'll never pay attention."**

It had been relatively quiet, until Professor Umagi walked out. Then the room was filled with calm conversation. I heard a few people talking about me, but most everyone else was busy catching up with each other.

"Raven." Kaname whispered.

I looked at him and he winked.

"Hey Kaname." I said.

"You doing alright so far?" he asked.

I gave a cruel, half hearted laugh.

"I'm alive." I said. "That's about all I can say."

"That bad?"

I sighed and glanced around the room.

"Not really, I just miss Senri." I confessed.

Kaname touched my arm and I felt a little better.

"As soon as class is out you can see him."

I nodded, distracted.

**"This is the room I looked in earlier."**

Kaname smiled, and then turned to talk to someone else, leaving me to my thoughts.

**"That guy with the purple eyes should be here."**

I was dying to use my powers, so I gently reached out with my mind to try to find the guy.

**"There, two seats back."**

He was staring at me. I could feel it. It was almost like he was trying to read my mind. I couldn't think about it too much longer, because class ended. I forgot all about purple eye guy when Kaname grabbed my hand and led me to my next class.

"Senri has this class too." he said.

I smiled and peered in the window. I found Senri by the window, with an empty seat for me.

**"Darn window."**

"You should be good now, okay?" Kaname assured me.

I nodded and squeezed his hand. He started to say something, but a guy came up, needing in the room. Kaname looked at him and smiled.

"Well hello, Zero." he said.

The guy looked at Kaname and smiled back.

**"Purple eyes! Zero, huh?"**

"Hi Kaname." Zero said. "I see you've attacked the new girl."

His voice was mesmerizing. It took me a minute to realize he was talking about me. They both laughed. Kaname touched my shoulder and I looked up at him.

"Raven this is my friend Zero Kiryuu. Zero, this is Raven, Senri's twin sister."

Zero smiled and offered his hand. I gave him my right, not thinking, but instead of freaking out like the professor had, he gently kissed it, like Kaname. I blushed amazed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

"The pleasure's all mine." I responded.

The bell rang so Kaname had to leave. He tenderly kissed the top of my head before going. Zero held open the door for me, and then sat behind me again. Senri was busy talking to some of his friends so I stared out the window.

**"Kaname is so nice. He's made sure I wasn't alone and helped me find my class."**

Senri turned to me and ruffled my hair. I flinched away while patting it back down.

"Hey Senri." I said.

"Hey sis, how you doing?" he asked

Good actually. Kaname is in my last class and now I have you."

"You haven't had any trouble yet?"

I pulled my right hand to my chest and looked down at my lap.

"Just a little" I muttered.

Senri grabbed my chin and lifted my face. His eyes were red and his fangs were showing when he spoke.

"Who said something?" he demanded.

I grabbed his hand and moved it off my face. I offered a little half smile to calm him down .

"The professor, but he apologized."

Senri relaxed a little, but his fangs were still out. Seeing them made me think of my own.

"Nobody's said anything about my teeth though."

I smiled full on and I could feel my fangs poke my lower lip. Senri laughed and I couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Well Rae," he said. "I want you to meet some friends of mine."

As if on cue, the two guys he was talking to earlier turned around and smiled at me. Senri pointed to the white haired one with grey eyes. He had a strange red scar around the left one.

"This is Allen Walker." he then motioned to the guy with white streaked red hair and green eyes. "And this is Rayne."

**"God, is being cute a vampire trait?"**

"Yes it is." Rayne said.

I jumped and looked at him. He laughed which made me blush.

"I'm sorry." Rayne said. "I can read minds."

"Obviously." I mumbled.

Senri rolled his eyes and punched Rayne.

"Be civilized Rayne. This is my twin sister, Vitalanie."

Allen frowned and kept looking from me to Senri.

"You two can't be related." he said. "You're like total opposites."

Senri laughed and glanced at Allen.

"Well you and Zero look alike but y'all ain't related." he whispered.

**"Zero."**

I had forgotten he was behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Zero staring out the window. As soon as I looked at him, he turned to me and smiled. I smiled back automatically and gave a little wave. He started to say something, but the professor walked in. Zero turned to look at the door and I caught a glimpse of his neck. He had the same strange markings as I did on my hand. I turned around, shocked. The professor started talking, but wasn't paying the slightest attention.

**"Why didn't he say something? Oh! Because after Professor Umagi acted like he did, I used my powers to cover it up. But why does he have one? What does it mean?"**

I could feel Zero looking at me. I tried to focus on the professor and not the mark on his neck.


	3. What's This Mean

The rest of the day passed in a blur. I met most of Senri's friends and ate lunch with Kaname. Zero is in all my classes. I couldn't stop thinking about his mark. I had been bugging Senri about it since last bell rang.

"It's weird Senri!" I exclaimed. "They are exactly the same!"

Senri rubbed his hand over his face and through his hair,

"Rae." he moaned. "Why don't you just ask him?"  
>"Because he doesn't know I have one." I said<p>

"So? He hasn't got to know your life story to justify you asking him about his tattoo."

I rubbed my hand.

"Look." Senri pointed. "There he is with Kaname, go ask him."

He grabbed my hand and proceeded to drag me to the guys. Halfway there, Kaname looked at me and smiled. Zero had his back to me, so when he turned I could see his mark again. We reached them and Kaname grabbed me in a hug that immediately made me happy. He kissed my forehead and let me go.

"Hey Raven." he said. "I see you survived."

I laughed and brushed my hair off my eyes.

"Yea I actually liked it." I admitted.

"I knew you would." Senri said.

I Stuck my tongue out at him so he ruffled my hair before putting me in a pretend headlock. I laughed and elbowed him in the stomach. He jerked back but kept his hold on me.

"Say it !" he ordered.

"Never!" I laughed.

Alright, your choice."

He grabbed me by the waist and flipped me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Senri!" I yelled. "Put me down!"

"Not until you say it!"

"I swear, I'm going to bite you if you don't let me go." I threatened.

He just laughed and spun in circles.

**"Fine."**

I twisted so I could grab his head and gently nipped his neck.

"Alright, I'll put you down." he surrendered.

He bent over so I could slide off, but when he stood up he bit my the top of my ear. I grabbed it and shoved him back.

"No fair!" I yelled. "That's cheating!"

We both laughed and turned back to Kaname and Zero. They were doubled over with laughter.

"Yea," Kaname said. "Y'all are definitely related."

Senri and I smiled at each other. A slightly awkward silence fell as we regained our composures.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Senri asked.

About that time my stomach growled. The guys laughed and I blushed, embarrassed.

"Apparently, I need to eat." I said

"There are some pretty good places in town." Senri suggested.

I nodded; thankful he hadn't suggested we eat more of whatever it was we had at lunch.

"That sounds good to me." I said. "But I want to take out my contacts first."

"Hurry." Senri whined. "We'll wait right here."

I ran to the girl's dorm and up the stairs to the third floor, where my room was. I went in long enough to brush my hair and take out my contacts. I felt really tired and I realized it was because I'd been straining my magic to cover my mark. I relaxed, and slowly, the delicate swirls came back.

**"Zero…"**

I shook my head and left my room, locking the door behind me. When I got back outside, Zero was the only one there. I frowned as I got closer to him.

"Where did they go?" I asked

"Senri needed his wallet and Kaname wanted to change uniforms."

He hadn't looked at me when I walked up, but he did when he finished talking. He gasped and stepped back. I looked down at my feet, wishing I would have left my contacts.

"Your eyes…"he whispered. "They're red. Are they always like that?"

"Yes." I said. "I know, its wei-"

Zero put his fingers under my chin and I looked up. He was smiling.

"They're beautiful, Vitalanie." he said.

He brushed a few stray strands of hair off my face and let his fingers slide down my cheek. I couldn't do anything but stare. He had called me Vitalanie even though I had let Kaname call me Raven. I smiled and grabbed the hand he still had on my face.

"Zero." I said.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You can call me Raven."

His smile widened and his lavender eyes glinted a little brighter.

I'm glad you trust me." he said.

**"God those eyes! They're beautiful!"**

I felt Kaname and Senri coming back so I gently let go of his hand.

"They're back?" he asked

I nodded and looked towards the boys dorm just as they came into view.

"How did you know?"

"It's a twin thing I guess." I lied.

Zero stayed quiet so I looked up at him. I was on his left so I could see his mark. I lifted my hand and traced the pattern with the fingers of my left hand. I felt Zero look at me, but I didn't try to hide it.

"Do you know why you have that?"he asked

"No. Do you?"

"No."

I looked at him again and his eyes seemed sad. I gave a small smile and touched his mark. As soon as I did, our marks began to glow. I felt warmth on my neck and hand and Zero did too. We both stared as a new mark came up on his right hand. It glowed as brightly as the one on mine. I moved my hand away and the glowing stopped but the mark stayed. He pushed my hair off my neck and sucked in his breath.

"I've got one too."I stated it more than asked.

"Yea." he said.

"What do you think it means?" I asked/

"I don't know."

I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes. I quickly turned away as the hot tears slipped down my cheeks. Zero wiped them away with both hands and smiled reassuringly.

"Don't cry Raven." he murmured.

"But I'm scared." I whispered.

I know you are, but its gunna be ok. I'll be right here with you."

He wrapped his arms around me and I buried my face in his chest. That's how we looked when Kaname and Senri got to us.

"What happened?" Senri asked.

Zero explained the glowing and showed him his hand.

"Well obviously you two are connected somehow." Kaname said

I lifted my head and looked at him.

"But how?" I asked

Kaname shrugged. Zero let me go so Senri could hug me.

"You still hungry?" he asked quietly.

I nodded so he motioned for the guys to come on. We walked in silence until we got to town. Then I just stood there, gawking. It was huge.

**"Omigod…."**

Kaname and Senri were talking, so they hadn't even noticed I had stopped. Zero gently grabbed my hand and pulled me on.

"Food's this way." he joked.

I smiled and let him lead me through the biggest part of town. Every store was lit up beautifully with lights and decorations.

"I bet this place is awesome at Christmas." I said.

"It is." Zero stated. "Town square is always covered over with lights and trees. Tons of stuff like that."

We passed this small jewelry shop that had fake leaves taped to the windows. A little girl and her mother were inside looking at a necklace. I smiled sadly, knowing it would be months before I could even see my own mother. Zero and I caught up with Kaname and Senri right as they stopped.

"This look good, Rae?" Senri asked.

I looked at the building only to come face to face with a giant pig. I jumped back and the guys laughed at me.

"It's fake Rae." Senri laughed.

"I see that now, jerk." I snapped.

"Alright you two," Kaname cut in. "At least act like you're not related."

Senri smiled at me and I just stuck my tongue out at him as we walked in.


	4. Trouble in Town

"Can we walk around and shop for a little while?" I begged. "Pretty please."

We had just finished eating and I was feeling pretty great. I really wanted to go in that jewelry shop.

"Do we have to?"Senri asked.

"No but Id really like to."

He ran his hand through his hair and looked at Kaname and Zero. They both shrugged.

"Why not?" Kaname asked

"We're not doing anything on campus tonight, at least not till later." Zero put in.

"See." I said. "Let's just at least walk around. I only want to go in one store for sure."

"Alright we'll go." Senri surrendered.

I hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're the best brother ever!" I gushed.

"Yea, yea." he muttered. "But you're still walking between us."

I shrugged content. Senri led the way with Kaname and Zero on either side of me. We went in the jewelry shop first. I found the most amazing necklace ever. It was a huge garnet in the shape of a hearts on a black chain. There were two really short chains hanging from it that had a gun on one and a knife on the other. Each one had tiny little garnets on the handle.

"That's gorgeous." I said

"Look." Kaname pointed. "The earrings are the same, only smaller."

"You should get it." Senri said.

I looked at the price tag and cringed.

"Expensive?" Zero asked

"Little bit." I answered. Senri looked over my shoulder to see the price.

"That aint too bad." he said. "You should get them anyway."

I held up the necklace so the light could shine off the stones. I really did like it and it wasn't like I didnt have the money. I just didnt want to flash it around in front of Kaname and Zero.

"You really think so?" I asked.

"I do."

We all turned to see a little old lady walk out from behind the counter. She came over to us, took the necklace from me, and put it around my neck. Then she gave me the earrings so I put them in. I lifted the little charms and twirled them between my fingers.

"They make your eyes look lovely." the lady said.

I jerked my head up and stared at her. She was smiling warmly and looking directly into my eyes. I slowly smiled back. The lady reached around me and pulled the price tag off.

"Go ahead, take it."

I opened my mouth to protest but she held her hand up, silencing me.

"That necklace deserves to go to someone who can truly appreciate its beauty. It wont look as good on any other girls neck as it will on a young lady like yourself."

I couldnt help it. I threw my arms around her neck as if I'd known her my whole life. She gently hugged me back and stroked my hair. When I let go, her eyes were misty.

"Go on." she ordered. "Share your beauty with the world."

"Thank you." I said.

We walked out of the little shop in silence. I couldn't help but feel bad for just taking the necklace.

**"She didnt even know me but she just let me have this."**

I smiled to myself and held onto the heart. Maybe this wouldnt be so bad after all. Senri put his arm around my shoulder.

"You ready to go?" He asked. "Back to the school I mean."

I started to protest but Kaname cut me off.

"We need to be back by six, Senri." he said.

He gave Zero and me a strange look.

"We know Kaname." Zero snapped.

I was cleary confused. If Zero was friends with Kaname and Senri, shouldn't he be a vampire too?

"Are you not a vampire?" I asked.

"No!" he yelled. "Never!"

I stepped back slightly startled by his outburst. He looked angry for a minute then he just looked sad.

"I'm sorry." he apologized. "I didn't mean to yell."

He had more to say so I waited patiently on him to finish.

"The chairman raised me since I was just a child." he explained. "He told me about the vampires."

"Oh ok."

"But Kaname is right." Zero admitted. "You need to be to class."

His words hit me like a lightning bolt. Every non-normal thing about me came to mind. My powers I couldn't control, my red eyes and weird fangs. The fact that I was a vampire that didn't drink blood. I didn't even crave. I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill over. I wished I could just be a normal vampire or not a vampire at all. Senri put his hand on me and I jerked away, snapping my eyes open. At this point, I didn't care if I cried or not. I was angry at myself and I needed to get away. Zero looked at me afraid to say anything.

"Raven, I..." he stuttered.

"I don't go to the night class." I struggled to get out. "I'm not normal."

"I'm sorry I...I didn know." he whispered.

"Oh so the freaky red eyes an un-retractable fangs didn't give you a clue?" I yelled, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

"Raven, calm down." Senri said.

I turned on him, growling.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I snarled. "And don't tell me it's gunna be ok, cause it's not."

"He didn't know!" Senri yelled back. "I understand it's hard Rae. But you can't snap on everyone because they ask you a question!"

"You can't understand Senri!" Tears were freely falling down my face, now. "You turned out just like mom and dad wanted. A regular vampire, with no added freakish powers. Then they got me. Your freaking twin, but I don't even drink blood! Now I'v got more freakish tattoos!"

My anger was getting to me. I could feel my powers bubbling inside me and I knew if I didn't calm down I was gunna lose control.

"Raven." Kaname said. "I know I can't understand what you're going through, but you need to calm down."

He was right, I knew it, but I didn't want to calm downs I wanted to stay angry at everyone. I wanted to lose myself to the hot feeling of my powers taking over. But I didn't want to morph. That's the other weird thing about my "magic." When it takes over fully, I grow black wings. The weirdness just never ends. I knew if I lost it here, anyone in town could get hurt, but I didn't care.

**"Maybe I'll end up hurting myself or something and I'll lose this stupid curse."**

I wrapped my arms around myself holding me together. I felt the heat rising in my veins as the monster inside me took over. My whole body was on fire, it felt like. Then something cold touched me. It was someone's hand.

"Raven..."

**"I know that voice...eyes..."**

I couldnt get a solid grip on my sanity. I felt another cold hand on my arm. They pulled me to them and held me tight. They were talking softly in my ear. It was mostly gibberish to me then one phrase stuck out.

"I told you I'll always be here Raven."

Just like that my anger was gone. I relaxed into the arms holding me.

"Zero.." I whispered.

"You're not freaky or weird." he said "You're special and unique. You're gifted. I know that mark and your powers cause you a lot of grief but you have them for a reason. And since iv got the same mark, I'm gunna stick by you the whole time. Ok?"

I nodded and wrapped my arms around him hugging back. Senri and Kaname looked at me waiting for me to say something. The problem was I had no words. I couldn't begin to explain how bad I felt for going off. Senri was used to it but Kaname and Zero weren't.

"I'm s-so s-sorry you guys." I hiccuped.

"It's ok Raven." Kaname said.

I let go of Zero so I could hug Kaname. He kissed the top of head and rubbed my back. Then I looked at Senri. He pulled me into his arms an hugged me, hard.

"I'm here for you too." he said. "I might not understand but I am your twin. I love you too death you crazy girl."

I smiled as he let me go.

"I swear." I sniffed. "I won't lose it again."

"Don't say that." Senri warned. "You might not be able to keep that."

Zero grabbed my hand and smiled.

"I believe in you." he said.

I blushed and wiped my tear stained face. I caught a glimpse of Kaname and he was glaring at our intertwined fingers.

**"Oh great."**

I was suddenly really tired again. I yawned and propped some of my weight on Zero. He slid his arm around my waist.

"Let's get you back."


	5. I'm a What

We got back to the school just as the sun was going down. It was time for the Moon Dorm to go to class. It looked like every girl in the Day class was waiting to see catch a glimpse of the Night class.

"Oh great." Senri groaned. "We'll have to fight our way to class."

"I got it." Zero said.

He walked over to the throng of girls with Kaname, Senri and I close behind. As soon as the crowd noticed us, they started going crazy.

"If you take one more step, I'll make you cry." Zero's voice was cold, merciless.

Everyone got quiet and stared at us. Zero took a step forward and the girls parted, making a pathway for us. We reached the gate with no problem at all. Senri smiled and clapped Zero on the back.

"Thanks man!"

Zero nodded and glanced at a girl who had taken a step towards us. She stopped instantly and backed up.

"You're scary Kiryuu." she muttered.

Zero ignored her and turned back to Senri.

"You better get to class." he said.

"Yea, you're right." Senri agreed. "Let's go Kaname."

Senri ruffled my hair for like the fiftieth time that day, then walked off to join the others. Kaname smiled warmly at me while gently touching my hair.

"Take care my little bird." he said.

He kissed my forehead then left.

"**Kaname is so sweet. I wonder why he favors me so much though. Oh well, I don't mind. I-"**

"Raven Shiki and Zero Kiryuu."

Zero and I turned to see a very freckled guy with glasses.

"Yes?" I asked.

He squinted at us behind his huge spectacles.

"The Chairman needs to see you." he ordered. "Now."

I heard some of the girls whispering as we followed Mr. Freckles.

"…probably in trouble…."

"….why's she with Zero?"

"…Kaname shouldn't hang out with her…"

I ignored most of it, or at least I tried to. I hadn't done anything wrong, had I? I shook my head and looked at Zero. He was staring off to the side, his expression completely blank.

"Here you are." freckle guy said. "Chairman's quarters."

He politely held the door as I followed Zero in. It was a big, plush office with a beautiful wooden desk. In a big black chair behind the desk, sat a rather unprofessional looking man. It wasn't necessarily how he looked, but rather what he was wearing that threw me off. He had on a humongous plaid coat that touched the floor, making him look rather small. I smiled, despite me nervousness.

"Zero, Raven, welcome." he smiled and I felt better.

"What do you need?" Zero asked.

"Well Zero." the Chairman began. "As you know, I like to think of this school as a way for humans and vampires to co-exist peacefully. But, unfortunately, the swap from Day class to Night class is rather catastrophic. Yet, for some reason, you seem very capable of keeping the Day class from interfering with the Night class."

"What's this got to do with me?" I asked.

The Chairman stood and stared out the window. After a moment, he turned to me. He was looking at my neck. I grabbed it, feeling very self conscious.

"Do you know what that does?" he asked.

I shook my head, afraid to speak.

"It keeps your vampire instincts at bay, so to speak." he said. "It also grants you the amazing powers you have. But the most important part, it marks you as a Guardian of the vampire race. The same applies to Zero, since he has the same mark. He just isn't a vampire."

"What?" Zero exclaimed. "I'm a vampire Guardian? That's impossible! I come from a family of vampire hunters!"

He had been leaning on the edge of the desk, but now he had a grip on it so tight it was cracking the wood.

"I know Zero." the Chairman said. "But you were born to protect those who are good and destroy those who are evil. Guardians are chosen every one thousand years and this time, it's you and Raven. You can't escape it either. Guardians stop aging, so you'll never 'grow' out of it. And you can't kill yourself either. You can only die by the hands of another Guardian."

Zero growled and stepped back, defeated. He covered his face and sat down with his back to the desk. The Chairman stayed quiet, staring out the window again.

"What do you need me to do?" I asked.

Slowly, the Chairman turned to me, almost as if he wasn't sure I had spoken. I nodded to reassure him.

"Well, first, I need you to keep the Day class back when the Night class comes out. Then I'll need you to patrol. Make sure no humans are out past sunset. I trust my vampires students, but if a human is to get hurt, the blood might be too tantalizing for some vampires to tolerate. If you do find a human out, report them to me."

He went on to explain a bunch of other rules and how I would be up all night on patrol. It didn't really sound all that exciting. Honestly, it just sounded like he needed a security guard so he could relax in his comfy little office.

"Raven." he said. "I know you're new, but I need a trustworthy person to do this job. I asked Zero because I know him and I've asked you because you are a Guardian. If anyone should have my trust, it should be you."

I wanted to do it, but then again, I didn't. I chewed on my lower lip and rubbed my neck. Maybe this would help me. I could practice my powers or my fighting.

"Alright, I'll do it."

Zero jolted up as the Chairman clapped joyously.

"What?" Zero yelled.

He was hovering over me rather aggressively.

"You're going to agree to protect those blood-sucking monsters?" he asked.

I put my hands on his shoulders and pushed him out of my space.

"I am one of those 'blood-sucking monsters', in case you forgot." I reminded him. "And yes, I am. If you would have been listening, you would know that we protect the humans too."

I turned to the Chairman and smiled boldly.

"Tell me when to start."

The Chairman smiled and sat down. He fumbled around in his desk for a while before pulling out a bracelet, a rod and a gun.

"Zero are you going to do this?" he asked.

Zero ran his hands through his hair and looked from me to the Chairman.

"I can't let her go by herself." he groaned.

"Then it's settled." the Chairman handed a small dagger to me. "Here. Cut your finger."

I took the dagger. but just stared at it, then the Chairman.

"Just a little prick, Raven." he pressed. "Zero, put this bracelet on."

When Zero had on the bracelet, and I finally pricked my finger, the Chairman pulled our hands together and let my blood drip onto the charm on the bracelet. Little sparks flew as the charm absorbed my blood.

"What the crap?" I whispered.

I stared at the charm, waiting on it to explode or something. As I was looking at it, I noticed that the design was the same as my mark.

"S what does this do?" Zero asked.

"Touch that charm to Raven's neck." the Chairman ordered.

Zero slowly reached out and as soon as the charm touched me. I couldn't move. My whole body felt like it was on fire. I opened my mouth to scream. but no sound came out. I wanted desperately to excape the pain, but I couldn't do anything.

"..stop…" my voice was barely a whisper.

Zero pulled his hand back and I sucked in a huge breath as I fell to my knees.

"What did I do to her?" Zero asked.

I was still doubled over in the floor, my body burning with pain.

"That charm.." I panted. "It's magic…"

"You're right Raven." the Chairman said. "Zero, if you ever feel threatened by Raven, or you feel like she's in danger of hurting someone, simply touch her mark with that charm and it will render her helpless. Raven, it's not that I don't trust your control, I just want to be sure everyone stays safe."

He then handed me the rod thing and gave the gun to Zero.

"That's a very special rod." he said.

I climbed to my feet and VERY carefully inspected the rod. At first, it just appeared short and club-like. Then upon closer investigation, I noticed it extended. I flicked my wrist and discovered it was actually rather long, and covered with marks like mine.

"An Artemis." I said. "Very effective in fighting vampires because it's made from white ash wood."

The Chairman nodded. Zero was looking at the silver gun in his hands. It had a long chain so it could be hooked to a belt or something.

"Bloody Rose…" he mumbled, reading the gun.

He held it up, unconsciously pointing it at me. I ducked and jerked the gun out of his hands.

"Magic gun!" I yelled. "If a bullet from this gun just barely grazes me, it causes extreme pain."

"Alright." he said, taking the gun back.

I looked at the Chairman in disbelief.

"You're going to give him a magic bracelet AND a magic gun?" I asked incredulously.

The Chairman shrugged and I rolled my eyes. Zero smiled to himself as he slid the gun in a hidden pocket in his jacket. I retracted Artemis and tucked him in my pocket. We both looked at the Chairman, waiting on him to tell us what to do.

"Alright." he said. "All you need to do is walk around and check for wandering students or any kind of trouble. You know what to do if either of the two happens."

I nodded and pulled Zero out the door.


	6. Meeting My 'Idol'

"Well this is boring."

I looked over at Zero from where I was perched on the edge of the Sun dorm. He was lying on his back, looking up at the stars. He had the gun lying on his chest and he was twirling the bracelet around. I had to admit, he was right. We had walked around the school at least four times before stopping on the roof. So far, nothing had happened.

"This is a complete waste of sleep time." Zero complained.

"Well, I'm gonna go make another round." I stated.

Zero didn't move to come with me, so I jumped off the roof, into the trees, and went alone. I had just got to the moon dorm, when I heard voices. I crept around the last tree to try and see the people. It was two girls from the Day class. One of them had fallen and cut her arm. The other girl was helping her up. I ran over to them, hoping that she wasn't bleeding much.

"You need to leave, now." I ordered.

"We just wanted to see Kaname." One girl protested.

"No. Leave, n-"

"Well hello, ladies."

I turned around to see Akatsuki Kain and Hanabusa Aido walking towards us. Senri had told me all about both of them. Akatsuki was very bold and daring. He was willing to try anything so everyone called him 'Wild'. Hanabusa was the pretty boy of the school. He could get anything he wanted just because of his looks. Every girl adored him and boy did he know it, so everyone called him 'Idol'.

"What are you doing out of class?" I asked.

Idol looked at me and smiled wickedly. He started walking closer, so I pulled out Artemis and he stopped.

"Easy Raven." Idol said. "We were just out walking."

He held up his hands in a defensive kind of motion. Wild was standing back still, looking at Artemis and me.

"Just go to class." I ordered.

"Let's just talk a while." Idol suggested. "I'd like to get to know the new girl."

He backed up by Wild, so I relaxed a little. I looked over my shoulder at the two girls. They were practically drooling over Idol and Wild.

**"Ugh,****so****weird."**

"Girls," I said. "Go back to the dorm or I'll report you."

They glared at me and crossed their arms.

"We haven't got to listen to you." One of them snapped.

I rolled my eyes and turned completely around, waving Artemis in front of me. They backed up, but not because of Artemis. They were staring at my eyes.

"Go." I said. "Now."

They turned and ran back towards the Sun dorm. I watched them until they were around the corner. Then I turned back around, only to come face to face with Idol. He grabbed my arms so I couldn't move.

"Let me go Hanabusa." I growled.

"Now why would I do that?" he asked. "There's something about you, Raven, and I want to know what it is."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

He let go of one of my arms, but kept his grip on the hand that had Artemis. Now that he wasn't so close, I could breath a little easier. I flicked my wrist and Artemis retracted back into a little club. I slid him into my pocket, so I could have my hands free.

"Why aren't you like other girls?" Idol asked. "Why aren't you swooning over us like the others."

I rolled my eyes at how conceded he really was.

"You're just people with pretty faces." I said. "Nothing special."

He looked shocked, then smiled again. It was a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"What's with you and Kaname?" he questioned further. "He doesn't usually associate with other Day class students."

"Kaname came home with my brother for Christmas last year." I explained. "He met me then, so he's just being nice now."

Idol was staring off at the sky thinking.

"Your brother." He mused. "Who is he?"

"Senri." I said cautiously.

He jerked his head toward me, his eyes flashing.

"Your brother is a vampire." He said. "You are too."

I just stared at him. Every one knew, except him apparently. Wild just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Really?" I asked. "You're just now getting that?"

**"He's****definitely****one****of****those****guys****that****needs****his****looks."**

"Wait. You mean its not a secret?" he gaped. "Then what are you hiding?"

I was about tired of this, so I jerked my wrist out of his grasp, but when I went to back up, Idol grabbed my shoulders, stopping me.

"Don't leave yet, Rave." He purred. "I'm not finished yet."

I tried getting out, but he was stronger than me.

"What do you want from me?" I snapped.

Idol had face right in front of mine, staring into my eyes.

"I already told you. I want to get to know you. Now why aren't you in the Night class?"

"I'm not telling you anything." I refused.

Idol growled and squeezed my shoulders, hard.

"You're hurting me." I said.

He didn't loosen his grip. In fact, I think he squeezed harder.

"Idol, let her go." Wild said.

"I want to know why you're so special." Idol demanded. "Kaname favors you, the Chairman likes you and you're a vampire in the day class. Why?"

He was really hurting me by this point. I knew if I didn't stop him, he'd keep squeezing until he broke my arms. But the only way I could stop him was by using my powers. I was about to blow my cover, when Idol let me go. I jumped away, looking to see what happened. Hanabusa was lying on the ground rubbing his face. Standing over him, was Zero. He had his gun out, pointed down at Idol. I stepped between Zero and Idol.

"No Zero." I said.

Zero looked at me, and then put the gun away. I turned and looked down at Idol who had gotten up and was glaring at Zero. I growled and Idol backed up.

"This isn't your business Kiryuu." Idol snapped.

"Yes it is." Zero said. "You could have hurt her."

Idol relaxed back into his old, cocky self. He flipped his hair out of his eyes and crossed his arms. He looked at me and grinned.

"Why do you care, Kiryuu?" he asked, still looking at me.

"It's my job to keep her safe." Zero answered.

Idol raised his eyebrows.

"Just her?" he pried.

"Let it go, Hanabusa." I ordered.

He ignored me and questioned Zero more.

"Why are you even out here?"

"The Chairman told us to." I said. "N-."

Idol cut me off by grabbing me again, but this time, he had his mouth open with his fangs pressed against my throat. I froze, afraid to move. All I could do was think about my the dream I kept having of being attacked. Zero tried to move towards me, but I held my hand up, just barely. He stopped, but he was still fighting with himself to keep from attacking Idol. I felt Idol smile against my neck as Zero backed up.

"Now." Idol murmured. "Let's get to the point, Raven. I'm no after you because you're new, or even because you're not in the Night class. You're different in the most fascinating way."

He was still talking right against my neck, sending chills down my spine.

"If you haven't noticed." he went on. "I have a very special talent. I can pick up on peoples auras, and you, Raven, have a very strong aura. You say you're just a regular vampire, yet for some reason, you're not in the Night class. You just got here, but the Chairman already has you out helping him. What makes you so special?"

I took a shaky breath and closed my eyes. I was on my own with this. If Zero tried to help, Idol would bite me, but if I didn't tell him what he wanted to know, he would still bite me. So either way, I was in a jam. I couldn't use magic because then Idol and Wild would know my secret. I was trapped with no way out, other than to just tell them. I exhaled and opened my eyes.

"Alright." I said. "I'll tell."

Idol loosened his grip and I could feel him smile again.

"You're a smart girl, Raven." he said.

I opened my mouth to share my secret, when I heard footsteps behind us.

"Let her go, Hanabusa." Kaname said.

Idol immediately let me go and backed over by Wild. His attitude was entirely different. He looked like a child that knew he was in trouble.

"What do you think you were doing?" Kaname asked.

"We were just out walking when Raven showed up." Idol said. "We were just having a nice conversa-"

"Let me tell you something." Kaname interrupted. "You are not to touch her. Ever. Do you understand?"

Idol looked at his feet and nodded.

"Go to class." Kaname ordered.

I watched as Idol and Wild walked away, back towards the education building. Idol had his head hung low, but Wild still stood tall.

"Stupid." Wild whispered.

Kaname glared at them, his eyes tense and cold. When they were out of sight, he turned to me, his expression softening. I felt my heart skip a beat and my cheeks get hot. He walked to me and brushed my hair off my neck, checking to see if Idol had bitten me or not. Once he was certain I was ok, he let my hair down and looked at my eyes.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Y-Yea." I stammered. "I'm fine."

"**Dang! My stupid voice shook!"**

"You don't sound ok." he stated. "Are you sure you he didn't hurt you?"

"I'm positive." I assured him. "It just scared me, that's all."

Kaname stared at my eyes and I knew he could tell I was lying. He could hear my heartbeat. I smiled weakly, to try and convince him. He smiled back and touched my cheek. He then stepped around me and shot Zero a look that could kill.

"Why didn't you stop him?"  
>Kaname's voice was hard, authoritative, and quite frankly, scary. But Zero just looked at him, standing tall and fearless.<p>

"I tried." Zero stated. "He grabbed her again. If I would have done anything, he would have bitten her."

Kaname clenched his fists and scowled.

"So you just left her life on the line?"

"Kaname, I had no choice!" Zero growled. "If I would have done something, it would have been worse!"

Zero had raised his voice to almost a yell. He had stepped right in Kaname's face. They were almost eye to eye, with Kaname just a little taller. It was like a stare-off. Neither of them backed down. I couldn't stand seeing the two friends like this, so finally I pushed myself between them.

"Guys I'm ok." I insisted.

Kaname looked at me and touched my face.

"He almost hurt you." he said.

"But he didn't." I protested. "Zero did all he could to help and I couldn't ask for more, alright. If you would have gotten here sooner, you could have stopped it. But you didn't, so you don't have any room to be so angry at him."

I turned on my heel and looked at Zero. He smiled, slowly.

"Thank you Zero." I said.

I heard Kaname hiss behind me, so I turned back around. I couldn't help but feel bad for yelling at him. I grabbed his hand and smiled weakly. He smiled back and his mood was instantly better. He kissed my head and I felt myself blush. He stepped around me again, without letting go of my hand. He looked at Zero apologetically.

"Zero." he said. "I'm sorry. I know you did what you could. I just get s overprotective."

I blushed again and looked at my feet.

"**Why though? Why does he care so much about me?"**

"I understand." Zero nodded. "It's ok."

They both nodded, so I assumed their friendship was alright. I sighed and stepped out from behind Kaname.

"You really should go take care of Hanabusa." I said. "And Zero and I need to talk to the Chairman about the two girls."

"Be careful." Kaname said.

I nodded as I walked off with Zero behind me. I could feel Kaname staring after me until we went around the corner. Zero and I didn't speak the entire walk. When we got to the Chairman's door, Mr. Freckle Guy was there to let us in. The Chairman listened carefully as we gave him a full recap of what happened. He told us that he would take care of the two girls so we could go ahead and go to bed. It was nearing dawn anyways, so we would only get one extra hour of sleep, maybe. Zero walked me to my room, just to be sure I was ok. I stopped at my door and looked at him. He seemed to be truing extra hard to keep a blank expression.

"Zero." I said. "Thank you."

He shook his head.

"Don't Raven. I almost waited too late. Then I couldn't do anything when he got you again."

"But I'm fine." I insisted.

"Raven." Zero looked at me, his eyes misty. "I've lost a lot of people I care about because of vampires. When the Chairman told me you were coming and you would be in the Day class, I vowed to keep you safe. I don't know why, I just had this feeling about you. I knew you were different. The point is, I'm not going to break my promise."

I didn't know what to say.

"**And I thought Kaname was nice. Zero is just as protective of me, and he doesn't even know me. He made a promise to himself to keep me safe, just because he had a 'feeling'. Gosh…"**

Zero touched my arm, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Go to sleep, Raven."

He turned and walked away, leaving me to ponder over my thoughts alone.


	7. Growing Closer

A few weeks went by, and I became accustomed to my life at Cross Academy. I became closer with a few of Senri's friends and made a few new ones on my own. Zero and I had a routine going for patrol so that had gotten a lot easier. But one day, things changed. I was leaving my last class to keep the crowd of girls back from the Night Class, when I got a message from the Chairman. He needed to see me. As soon as I got to his office, I could tell something wasn't right. I could feel it. I opened his door and saw two girls sitting in front of his desk.

"Raven." the Chairman called. "I'm glad you could make it.

I looked from the Chairman to the girls and back.

"Who are they?" I asked

The girls trned around and smiled at me. One had long red hairand extremely bright green eyes. The other had long brown hair and caramel colored eyes. They didn't look suspicious, but I was definitely getting some weird vibes from them.

"Raven these are our two new students, Mika and Lyaia." the Chairman motioned to each girl.

They stood to shake my hand and, just for the sake of being bold, I offered my right hand. They both gasped and drew back just as I had expected. I smiled, grimly, to myself.

"I'm Raven Shiki." I introduced myself. "But please call me Vitalanie."

They nodded so I looked back to the Chairman. He just stared at me like I was supposed to say something. I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Alright." I caved. "What's this got to do with me?"

"I'd like for you to show them around." he said. "Take Zero with you, too."

"What about swapping classes?" I asked.

"I'll take care of it." he insisted.

I knew that once the Chairman's mind was made up, there was no changing it. I looked at the two girls. They seemed nice enough, so I really didn't see any harm. I pulled my phone out and called Zero. He was already on his way to Chairman's office, so I told him to just meet us outside. I looked at the Chairman and nodded towards the girls.

"Zero and I will come get you when were finished with them." I said.

I walked out the door, expecting the girls to follow. Instead, when I turned around, they were just staring at me. I rolled my eyes and waved them towards me.

"Come on then." I called.

They followed then, and I was glad they didn't make any kind of fuss. Zero was waiting outside just as he said. When he saw the girls and me, he merely started walking along with us. He didn't speak or anything. He had grown a lot quieter than he was the first day I met him. He only talked a little and he never smiled.

"**I wonder if it's because of me."**

Two weeks ago, I had let my powers get out of control. Zero had to use the charm to stop me, but I almost killed him before he did. It was awful. The only good thing, is that it was just Zero and me so I didn't have to tamper with anyone's memories. But I'm really not convinced that Zero's quietness is due entirely to that incident, mainly because he was like this before that.

"**Oh Zero…"**

"So, Raven." Mika said. "Who's this guy?"

"I can answer for myself." Zero answered. "My name is Zero."

He didn't even turn around.

"He's my patrol partner." I explained. "And I asked you to call me Vitalanie. Only my friends and family call me Raven."

"Sorry Ra-Vitalanie." Mika apologized.

I smiled over my shoulder at her.

"It's alright."

"So where are we going?" Lyaia asked.

"First we'll show you the school building." I said. "It's got the classrooms, cafeteria and gym."

"Then you'll show us the dorm, right?"

I nodded.

"It's not really that much."

They didn't ask any more questions, so Zero and I led them on our little mini tour. I did all the talking, of course. Zero just walked beside us, looking rather bored.

"**I wonder why the Chairman asks him to do things like this. He hates it, or at least, he looks like he does."**

We finished and left them in their dorms so we could go patrol. The Chairman was easy to find, standing in front of the door to the school.

"Finished already?" he asked.

"Yup!" I said. "They seem to like it."

The Chairman smiled.

"Well I'll leave you two to your job then."

He walked away without one word to Zero.

"**How strange…He almost always has something to say to him.."**

I looked at Zero, but he was just staring off at the sky. His eyes were distant, unreadable, his expression completely blank.

"How sad…"

I didn't realize I'd said it aloud until Zero looked at me.

"What's sad?" he asked.

"Oh nothing." I mumbled.

I looked down as I felt my face flush.

"You don't have to lie to me, Raven." Zero said.

There it was. The random, unexpected act of utter kindness and sincerity that came out of nowhere. He'd be completely closed off and distant then nice and caring before you even realized it. I shook my head and smiled up at him.

"I'm not." I assured him. "I'm just thinking that's all."

He shrugged and the care was gone, just like that. He was back to the Zero I'd come to know, closed off and alone. I wanted so bad for him to open up to me.

"**What's going on in your head Zero? Why won't you trust me?"**

If I really wanted to, I could just use my powers to read his mind, but I would never. I already knew there was something odd about Zero. Mainly because he's a Guardian, yet he's human. Then because I just kept getting weird vibes from him. There was definitely something different about him. But I was determined to let him open up to me in time.

"**He's just like me. Other people can tell I'm not normal, they just don't know why. That's how Zero is. His personality is different from everyone else's. Different is a good thing."**

I grabbed Zero's sleeve and gently tugged him forward.

"Let's go." I smiled.

He nodded and we shimmied up the trees to the top of the school. Even though I had the unnatural reflexes of a vampire, Zero always beat me to the top.

"How do you keep doing that?" I asked.

"I've always been athletic I guess." he shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. I was going to say something, but I felt someone watching me. Kaname was standing in the window of the main classroom. He smiled at me and I smiled back. I gave a little wave before turning back around.

"Really Raven?" Zero asked.

I looked at him to find him shaking his head and frowning.

"What?" I asked.

"We're supposed to be patrolling, not making googley eyes at Kaname." he muttered.

"I'm not!" I protested. "I was just being nice!"

He just turned towards the woods and crossed his arms.

"Whatever."

Zero and Kaname were friends when I first came, but they've steadily grown apart. Kaname and I had become closer, though. He was one of those guys that were cute and nice. He made me happy, most the time. But when him and Zero where together, it wasn't quite the same. I wasn't sure why either.

"**It's probably because they're two very different people. Zero's a vampire hunter, and sure, Kaname's nice, but he's still a vampire. I guess with time, their friendship just couldn't work out."**

I would sometimes wonder if I was the reason their friendship didn't work out.

"Zero.." I called.

I didn't look at him. Instead, I looked out over the woods. I could feel it when he looked at me.

"What?" he asked.

"Why aren't you and Kaname close anymore?"

Zero sighed and I knew he was running his hands through his hair. He stepped beside me and looked at the sky.

"Kaname and I are very different." he explained. "He's a vampire and I'm a vampire hunter. He's a pureblood that gets everything he wants when he wants it. It's always bothered me. I guess fate just stepped in and helped me realize our differences."

I frowned and looked at my feet.  
>"Ok."<p>

"**So is that how our friendship will end. The only difference in Kaname and I, is that I don't drink blood."**

A cold breeze came up, sending chills down my spine. It was only mid-November, but it was already cold enough to snow. I wrapped my arms around myself as I let the wind flow through me. They sky had turned and ugly grey and the moon was completely obscured by the clouds. It was definitely going to snow soon.

"I hate this time of year." I mumbled. "Yet I love it."

"Why?" Zero asked.

"A lot of bad vampires are out this time of year." I said. "It's scary."

Zero just looked at me with complete disbelief on his face.

"You're a vampire, that's afraid of vampires?"

I nodded, still staring at the sky.

"You're a Pureblood." Zero stated. "Why would you be afraid of anything?"

"I can't control my powers very well." I said. "You know that. When I was little, a group of Level E's attacked Senri and me. I was so scared that I couldn't use my powers at all. Senri had to protect me, and almost got killed. Ever since then, vampires have frightened me. I know it's silly considering that in all actuality, I'm so much stronger than them. I just wish I could be a normal vampire, or not a vampire at all."

I closed my eyes as tears rolled down my cheeks. I had let so many people I care about get hurt because I couldn't take care of myself. I didn't have the courage to face myself.

"**Why do I let myself look so weak around Zero? It's because I am weak. I'm useless to him. I'm a pathetic excuse for a vampire."**

"Raven, you're fine just the way you are." Zero said.

"I'm dangerous, Zero." I protested. "I can't control my powers when I want to, yet when I need to lose control, I can't. I have to keep my powers a secret here, so if I get in another jam, I'm helpless unless you save me again."

I sat down with my back to the stone pillar. Zero sat down next to me and silently wiped the tears off my face.

"I know it's hard." Zero agreed. "You've been given something you don't understand. Then you got here and were told you were a Guardian, which just added to your worries."

I looked at Zero with disgust.

"You're not helping."

"My point is," he continued. "I'll be here for you, just like I promised. If I have to save you a thousand times, I don't mind. I won't let you be alone Raven."

"**Zero…you're the best."**

He put his arm around my shoulder and gently squeezed. I let my head rest in the crook of his neck, and he stroked my hair. We sat there in silence for a while. It was nice until I started thinking of our earlier conversation. I couldn't help but wonder If Zero and I would end up the same way. I sighed and Zero lifted his head off mine.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"You and I won't end up like you and Kaname, will we?"

Zero turned his shoulders towards me and touched my face. His eyes were serious yet kind at the same time.

"Never." he stated. "You may be a vampire, but you're not like the others. You care for other people."

"Promise?" I asked.

Zero cupped my face in his hands and I felt my cheeks get hot. All his walls were down and I felt like I could see right into his heart.

"I promise."

I smiled and threw my arms around his neck. He hugged me back, and for the first time in a while, I felt safe.


	8. DISCLAIMER!

DISACLAIMER!

I do NOT own anything from Vampire Knight!

Now that that's out of the way, I want to say thanks for the reviews and messages I've got about my story. I'd really like to know what more of you think though. Please review and let me know where you think I should head with this! And PLEASE no negative comments! If you don't like it, don't review! Thanks!


	9. They know

The next day was like any other. At least, it was at first. Zero and I had stayed out later than usual patrolling, so I had to use the Chairman's bathroom the next morning. I had to rush to class and still ended up missing my first period. I walked in Professor Umagi's class to find the new girl, Mika, in my seat. She was talking to Rayne and Allen, leaving Senri sitting there twiddling his thumbs. Zero had kept a seat beside him for me. I smiled and sat down. When I did Senri turned around and waved.

"Hey Sis!" he called.

"Hey Senri." I laughed. "How are you?"

He shot a glance at Rayne and Allen, who were still ignoring him.

"I've been better." he admitted. "It's nice to be back in the Day Class for a while, though. It makes me feel a little normal."

I sucked in my breath. My mind slowly processed what Senri had said. I felt Zero looking at me.

"Raven..." he said cautiously.

I shook my head and smiled at Senri.

"You are the normal one silly." I joked.

Senri didnt have time to reply because the bell rang. Professor Umagi came in. As soon as Senri turned around, I put my head in my hands.

**"That was hard. Smiling when you want to cry is not easy."**

I felt something bump my arm and turned to see Zero looking at me, his eyes full with worry.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

I smiled and nodded. He didn't look convinced, but he didn't press the issue. He kept an eye on me the rest of the day. I was in a such a daze, I didn't even realize when final bell rang. I sat in my seat and stared at my lap. Zero grabbed my arm and gently pulled me up. I wordlessly grabbed my books and stepped towards him.

"Raven." Zero said. "Look at me."

I lifted my eyes for just a second, then looked away. He grabbed my chin forcing me to keep my head turned to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "Please don't lie to me."

I sighed and leaned back against the desktop behind me.

"It's not that something's wrong." I explained. "I've just got a ton of stuff on my mind."

"Like what?"

I shook my head adn looked out the window.

**"I refuse to burden Zero with all of my problems."**

Zero touched my cheek and brushed my hair off my face. Then he did something so unexpected it startled me. He put both arms around me, and hugged me.

"Z-Zero?"

He pulled back and looked me in the eyes. He was doing what I had always wanted. He was letting me behind that wall he kept up around his heart.

"You can trust me Raven." he whispered. "I told you that I'm here for you. I know I don't always seem like the friendliest person, but that's just how I am. But I want you to know something, Raven. I really do care about you."

His lavender eyes were looking at my deep crimson ones with utter compassion. I grabbed his hand that was on my face and grabbed his sleeve with the other. My heart was pounding in my chest.

**"He cares...and the truth is, I think...I think I'm falling in love with my best friend."**

"Zero.." I whispered.

Zero stroked my cheek with his thumb. I used the hand that was holding his sleeve to pull him right in front of me so I could touch his face. He slowly dipped his head to me, his eyes never leaving mine. Our lips were only inches apart, our foreheads touching, when the door flew open and Mr. Freckle Guy rushed in.

"You two!" he yelled. "The Night Class is coming and you aren't out there to keep the crowd back!"

Zero sighed and stepped back.

"We're coming." he said.

Captain Freckles went out the door and Zero followed, so I took that as my cue to follow as well. We got to the gate just in time. The Night Class was just coming out. Kaname smiled at me, but instead of blushing like I usually did, I merely nodded his way.

"Raven are you alright?" he asked.

"Yea I'm fine." I said, smiling.

"You're lying." he stated.

He reached to touch my hair, but suddenly Zero was there. He grabbed Kaname's hand and pushed it away.

"Don't touch her." he ordered.

Everyone in the Day Class and NIght Class grew silent. They were staring at us, waiting to see what would happen.

"Why are you like this Zero?" Kaname asked.

"I'm protecting her." Zero said.

Hanabusa walked over and stood between the guys.

"From what?" he asked. "She gets along with us just fine."

It was true. Despite what happened with Hanabusa and Akatsuki on my first day, I had grown to like the Night Class. They were all pretty nice to me. Mainly because of Senri, I think, but still.

"He's right Zero." I admitted. "I'm fine right now, ok."

Zero looked at Kaname and Idol a moment longer, then grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

"We're leaving." he stated.

I looked over my shoulder at Kaname and Idol.

"Sorry guys!" I called.

Idol smiled adn waved me on.

"It's alright, Raven." he said. "We understand."

And the truth of the matter, was that he did understand. They all knew Zero was a vampire hunter and, surprisingly enough, they accepted it. Of course, Zero didn't care. He still hated vampires.

**"Which makes me wonder if somewhere deep down, he hates me too."**

I sighed and let Zero pull me to the school building so we could watch for trouble. We climbed to the roof and I went straight to my post on top of the statue. Zero took his spot on the other side of the roof.

"Nothing in the woods." I called. "And the Sun Dorm is - wait."

There were strange lights coming from the third floor. It was flashes of diferent colors. I couldn't make out anything through the curtain from this distance, even with my vampire enhanced eyesight. Whatever it was, it wasn't right.

"Trouble Zero." I said.

He nodded so we jumped off the roof adn started running toward the dorm. I went inside and Zero climbed up to go in from the roof. We met back up at the rooms where the noise was coming from.

"These are Mika and Lyaia's rooms." I whispered. "Ok. I'll go in and you wait here. Come in if I need help."

Zero didn't protest so I went to Mika's door and knocked. I could here voices and other noises. No one answered me, so I knocked again.

"Mika it's Vitalanie." I called. "What's going on?"

The voices stopped, but there was a lot more banging and crashing. I kicked the door in and gasped at what I saw. The girls had knocked out the wall seperating their rooms to make one large suit. There was a big black cauldron in the middle of the floor surrounded by spell books and potions. The was covered with all kinds of herbs, books, potions, and tons of other stuff of the sort. Mika and Lyaia were standing behind the cauldron looking rather guilty.

"Omigosh...you're witches." I mumbled.

"We're good witches though!" Mika said, hurriedly.

"Yea we use our magic to help other people." Lyaia added.

I knew something was different about them when they got here, and now I know what it is. Zero stepped in the doorway behind me and gasped.

"What happened here?" he asked.

"They're witches." I stated.

Mika and Lyaia walked over to us, after putting away their spell books.

"Listen." Mika said. "We really are good witches. We've never used magic to hurt anyone."

"Why did you come here though?" I asked. "This is a school for humans and vampires."

The girls looked at each other and shook their heads.

"We just wanted to be some place that had other people like us." Lyaia said.

"There are no other witches here." I retorted.

"But you're here." Mika observed. "And you're magic, so that basically makes you a witch."

My mouth fell open and I took a step back. Mika put her hands over her mouth as she realized what she had said. I was completely dumbfounded. These girls I had never met before, knew the secret I was trying so hard to keep. I didn't know what to do. Luckily, Zero stepped in.

"How do you know that?" he demanded.

"The Headmaster told us." Mika said. "I'm sorry, he told us not to say anything."

Zero grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door.

"I think Headmaster Cros has some explaining to do." he mumbled.

We headed straight for the Chairman's house. He would be at home since it was after Day Class time. Well, really, Zero pulled me there. I still couldn't believe taht somebody knew my secret.

**"What if they say something to the other students?"**

We got to the Headmaster's house and barged right in, not even bothering to knock. He heard us and came out of the kitchen wearing this absolutely ridiculous apron. When he saw us he smiled.

"Zero! Raven! How nice of you to stop by." he greeted.

"Why didn't you tell us that the new girls are witches?" Zero questioned. "And why did you tell them about Raven's secret?"

Headmaster Cross's smile faded. He sighed and motioned for us to follow him into his study room. Zero tugged me on after him and sat me down on a big, green, plush couch. He sat next to me and Headmaster Cross sat in a brown leather chair across from us.

"Alright explain." Zero ordered.

"They came from Salem, Massachusetts." he explained. "They are direct descendants from two of the witches executed during the Salem witch trials. Five more witches are coming later. Boys, from Ipswich. They're also descendants from past witches."

This wasn't what concerned me. I thought the idea of having witches was really cool.

"But why did you tell them my secret?" I asked.

"Well, I thought they could help you learn to control your power better." he admitted.

I looked at the Chairman, waiting on him to say he was joking. When he didn't, I dropped my head into my hands and moaned. I couldn't believe this.

**"He doesn't trust me enough tot think I can control my powers on my own." **

"Why?" I asked. "Why would you do this without asking me?"

"I knew you would never agree to it." he said. "I was going to let you get used to the girls, then tell you, but it looks like they told you first."

I shook my head adn stood up. Zero grabbed my hand, keeping me from leaving.

"Raven, please." Headmaster Cross begged. "Just give them a chance. You might like it."

I really didn't want to, but I didn't see what it could hurt.

"Fine." I agreed. "But not five guys. Two. That's it."

The Chairman nodded and smiled.

"You'll warm up to them, Raven." he ensured me. "They're very nice."

I just rolled my eyes.

"If I don't, they leave." I demanded.

"Alright." he agreed.

He told me to meet with the girls and decide when we could practice and what not. After listening to him for a while, Zero and I left to get back to patrol. I spent the rest of the night thinking about my magic and my almost kiss with Zero.


	10. Not a dream

"Raven! Raven get up!"

I moaned and sat up in bed. It was Saturday so we didn't have school, but I had promised Senri I would spend some time with him and some of his friends.

"Raven, get up or I'm coming in!" Senri threatened.

He then began banging on my door and singing at the top of his lungs. I grabbed my pillow and chunked it at the door.

"Will you shutup!" I yelled. "You're gonna wake up the entire dorm!"

I could hear Senri laughing. I groaned and got up to open the door.

"Get in here and be quiet." I ordered.

"Oh come one, Rae." Senri moaned. "I'm a vampire and I can be awake during the day. I don't think it would hurt if the humans got up a little early."

"Nah, Senri." I agreed. "Only this entire dorm would be angry at me and try to kill me in my sleep."

He laughed and flopped down on my bed.

"Just hurry up and get ready." he said.

After I had gotten dressed, we went to the Moon dorm to get Ichijo, Hanabusa, Rima, Akatsuki and Ruka.

"Raven!" Ichijo yelled when he saw me.

"Hey Ichijo." I greeted.

Ichijo was really his last name. His first name was Takuma, but I had never heard anyone call him that.

"You ready for some fun?" he asked.

"Yea." I laughed. "What are we doing?"

"You'll see." Hanabusa said.

I was really curious now.

"Just come on." Senri pressed. "You'll have fun."

With that said, we all made our way off school grounds and into town. The humans were looking at us like we were models or something. It was really cool yet unnerving at the same time. We went to the outskirts of town, where nobody was, and went into this huge, old, abandoned warehouse. We climbed to the top floor, where the roof was mostly gone and the walls were cracked and crumbling. It was really creepy.

"What are we doing?" I asked.

Senri and Ichijo smiled wickedly at each other.

"Magic fight!" they yelled.

I immediately ducked behind a chunk of rubble as fire, ice, rocks and streaks of lighting flew by me. It was a complete free for all. Everyone was attacking anything that moved and they were loving it. Rima dodged her way over to me and sat down.

"Why don't you come join us.?" she asked.

"I'm not very good at controlling my powers." I confessed.

"That's alright." Rima assured me. "In all honesty, it's kinda why we picked this as one of the things to do today."

"What? Why?" I asked.

Rima smiled and pointed at Senri.

"He asked us to." she said. "And quite frankly, we like getting to hang out with you, Raven. You're really cool and fun. Personally, I'm more than happy to help you with your powers."

I smiled, glad that Rima and the others really did like me.

"Alright." I said. "What's the object of this?"

"Hit someone, and there out." she said. "That's it."

"Let's go."

Rima went back to her post and called a time out.

"Hey guys!" she yelled. "Raven's in!"

Everyone hooped and hollered adn we went on with our little game. We played at least eight rounds and I never lost control of my magic. I was so proud of myself. The others were too. They congratulated me and commented on all the things I could do.

"You're really skilled, Raven." Akatsuki said. "I'd love for you to teach me some of your fire techniques."

"Yea!" Hanabusa agreed. "Could you show me some ice stuff too?"

"And mind control?" Ruka asked.

"What about lightning?" Rima put in.

"I'd be more than happy to help all of you with your skills." I said. "But I still have to learn how to completely control it."

Senri's stomach growled, making everyone laugh.

"I think we need to control my stomach first." he said.

We all agreed to go to this really cute cafe in the middle of town. After lunch we went back to the school laughing and having fun. It felt good to just relax for a while. I was around other people like me and they were actually a lot cooler then I'd made them out to be.

"Thanks for this guys." I said. "It was fun."

"Hey, thats what friends are for, right." Hanabusa smiled.

I smiled back and waved as they walked away, leaving me at the Sun dorm. I turned to go inside, but Zero was there, blocking my way. I jumped at his sudden appearance.

"Shoot, Zero!" I gasped. "You almost gave me a freaking heart attack."

"Where'd you go?" he asked.

"Town, why?" I answered.

"With he a bunch of vampires?" he gaped.

"Yes Zero." I said, crossing my arms.

He just scowled and walked away. I went after him, curious as to why it was such a big deal.

"What does it matter?" I asked.

"It draws attention from humans." he said. "They're just like the girls here.

"So." I huffed. "It's nice to feel noticed every now and then."

Zero stopped, causing me to bump into his back.

"It also pulls other vampires to the town." he went on. "Being a Pureblood, your essence draws other vampires to you. All vampires."

He was telling me that I was putting myself in the way of Level E's, without actually saying it. I looked down at my feet and rubbed my hands together.

"Oh."

Zero looked down at me and sighed.

"I'm not trying to scare you, Raven." he said.

"I know. You're just looking out for me." I said.

I smiled at him so he wouldn't feel bad.

"Besides." I went on. "I need to be here on campus anyways."

I turned and started walking toward Headmaster Cross's house. Zero grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, his eyes boring into mine. My mind flashed back to yesterday in the classroom.

"Raven." he said softly.

I felt myself flush as I pushed his hand off.

"I gotta go." I mumbled.

I ducked away and sprinted into the woods. Once I was a safe distance from the school, I leaned against a tree and sat down. My heart was pounding in my chest while my mind reeled with tons of questions.

**"What's going on with me? I can't possibly like Zero, can I? I've always thought Kaname was cute. Plus, Zero's my best friend. I can't love my best friend. But, yesterday. I'd never felt like that before."**

I rubbed my temples and sighed.

**"Maybe I was just caught up in the moment. Yea, that was it."**

I nodded to myself and stood up. I decided to go to my room and relax for a while before I had to go on patrol. Once there, I climbed in my bed and closed my eyes. BeforeI knew it, I had fallen asleep, and was waking up to my phone going off. I looked at the called I.D., then hit decline.

**"Zero..." **

It was already dark, so I changed into my pajamas and went back to sleep.

. . . . .

It was cold and snowing. I looked around and realized I was in town, by the big fountain. It must have been night because nobody was out.

**"I've got to be dreaming."**

I decided to go to the school, but I wasnt sure how to get there. I'd never been here on my own. I turned to follow the main road when something moved past the corner of my eye.

**"It's just a bird or something."**

I ignored it and went on my way. I still didn't recognize anything so I stopped to look around. There were footprints leading into the alley.

**"Don't go."**

I went. The footprints went all the way to a brick wall, then vanished. There were no signs of someone going over the wall, but there were no other trails anywhere. I turned around and a tall guy was right behind me. I gasped and backed up.

"I'm sorry." the guys said. "I didn't mean to scare you. I noticed you wandering around and I thought you might be lost."

He was smiling, gently, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked about my age, maybe a little older. He seemed nice, but his eyes gave him away. They were a blood-stained red, vampire eyes.

"You're a vampire." I muttered.

The guy just kept smiling as he stepped toward me. I ducked around him and ran out of the alley and down the street. I could hear him running after me.

"Don't run." he called. "I'll be nice."

I shook my head and tried running faster, but my legs wouldn't work. I tripped and fell into the snow. Just as I tried to get up, they guy was there, pinning me down. I screamed and fought to get him off, then suddenly, he was gone, and everything was black.

. . . . . .

"What do you think you're doing here?"

I could here voiced and muffled fighting noises. I sat up and cringed. I was really sore. I looked around my room and saw broken glass and blood on the floor. The noise was coming from outside, so I carefully stepped over the glass and looked out my window. Zero was down there, fighting with someone. His gun was lying in the snow a few feet away. Finally I noticed that the guy Zero was fighting, was the guy from my dream.

**"So it wasn't a dream?"**

I couldn't think long because Zero needed help. I carefully jumped out my window and landed perfectly on the sidewalk. I ran over to his gun and picked it up, taking aim at the guy.

"Zero!" I yelled. "Move!"

He jumped out of the way and I fired two quick shots at the vampires head. I knew I hit him, but instead of turning to ash like a Level E should, he lay slumped in the snow, bleeding. I stood and watched as his body slowly began to crack.

"He was an aristocrat or a noble." I mumbled.

I flinched as his body shattered, leaving behind shining crystal pieces and blood. Zero got up and stood beside me.

"Raven are you alright?" he asked.

"I just killed a possible noble." I said.

"He tried to kill you first." Zero said. " How did you not wake up?"

"I was dreaming." I explained. "And he was in it. He chased me from an alley then tackled me. I wake up because he was just gone all of a sudden."

"He broke in your window." Zero stated. "I had been following him, then he disappeared. I heard you scream so I came here and fought him off you."

I shook my head and looked at the gun in my hands. When I did, I noticed my arms were bruised. Upon further inspection, I observed that my legs were bruised as well.

"Whoa." I breathed.

Zero looked at me with a worried expression.

"I look awful." I stated.

"The bruises aren't the worst part." he muttered.

He looked at my neck and I instinctively reached to touch it. My hand came away red and sticky. I was suddenly really shaky and light headed. The last thing I remember was dropping Zero's gun before I fainted.


	11. Please no

"So she's gunna be ok?"

"She's had a lot of blood taken, but she should be fine."

I could here voices, but I couldn't tell who they were. The fist voice was very familiar, a voice I should have recognized immediately. I tried opening my eyes but the light was so bright it hurt.

"Ugh." I groaned.

"Raven!"

"She's awake!"

I felt someone sit on the edge of the bed and their shadow fell across my face. I tried again to open my eyes, this time succeeding in my task. Senri was leaning over me. H e smiled as my eyes adjusted to the light.

"Thank God you're ok!" he cried.

"Of course I'm ok." I said confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Senri swapped a look with the Headmaster, the other voice from earlier.

"Don't you remember?" Senri asked. "You were attacked by another vampire."

"Yea and Zero saved me." I finished.

Headmaster Cross kneeled beside my bed and looked at me intently.

"Raven." he said. "That vampire bit you."

"I remember the attack, but he never bit me." I protested.

"Yes he did." Senri argued. "You know he did because Zero told us you touched your neck before you fainted. Can you remember that?"

Of course I could, I just didn't want to. I didn't like thinking about it.

"Where's Zero?" I asked.

About that time, the infirmary door came open and Zero walked in. I sat up and smiled at him.

"You're alright." he mumbled.

Senri and Headmaster Cross nonchalantly got up and left the room so Zero and I could talk. He sat on the bed where Senri had just been, and stared at me.

"Zero are _you_ ok?" I asked.

He shook his head and looked away, his eyes sad.

"He drank so much of your blood." he said. "I thought he'd killed you already."

His voice cracked and it dawned on me that he was crying. I slid my arms around his neck as he sobbed silently on my shoulder.

"Shh." I lulled. "I'm fine. You saved me."

"I was almost too late." he said sitting up.

"But you weren't." I stated.

"Raven, I swore I would always be there t o protect you." Zero said. "Yet I'm always late. It's right when the choice is life or death that I manage to get there."

"At least you get here." I offered.

Zero shook his head and looked at me, his eyes serious.

"That's not enough, Raven." he growled. "When you're hurt, it's my fault because I said I'd keep you safe."

Until now, I had never realized how serious Zero was about protecting me. He was basically carrying my life in his hands, all the time. He made a promise to me, the Headmaster and himself to stay by my side.

"It wasn't your fault." I argued. "I should have been on patrol with you, but instead I was slacking off. It's my own fault."

Zero shook his head again. I know he wasn't going to listen to me, so I leaned back against the headboard and closed my eyes. I was really tired from having so much blood taken, but there wasn't really anything I could do to get my strength back. I could sleep, but I wasn't sleepy, or I could drink blood, but I didn't want to.

**"I will NOT drink blood from anybody. I'll just relax and sleep until I can get back to my usual routine."**

I looked at Zero and he was playing with the fuzz on the edge of the sheets.

"I copied notes from class for you." he said.

"Thank you." I said, smiling. "I'm really hoping I'll be able to go to class tomorrow. Missing one day is enough."

Zero scowled and yanked the fuzz off, flicking it in the floor.

"You've missed two days." he corrected me.

I shot up and Zero looked at me from the corners of his eyes.

"I've been asleep for two days?" I asked, baffled.

He nodded and stood up to look out the window. He was quiet for a long time, staring at nothing in particular.

"Your room." he mumbled. "Was awful. Blood was splattered on your wall and your sheets were soaked with it."

He got quiet again then continued.

"Your pillow had so much blood in and on it, that it was dyed red."

I was dumbfounded. I knew that the vampire had attacked me, and obviously he had bitten me, but I had no clue he'd spilled so much. I touched my neck, and even through the layers of gauze wrapped round it, I could feel the sting of the tiny pressure from my fingers.

**"It should be healed by now. Even with this much blood loss, my healing should still be better than this."**

Now I understood why Zero was as worried as he was. I was scared.

"Zero." I called. "I'm scared."

Zero came back to sit on the bed and grabbed my hand.

"Don't worry. I'm right here." he assured me. "Kaname and your parents went to the Elder Council to get them to investigate."

"What'd they find out?" I asked.

"The vampire you killed was a rouge aristocrat." he said. "The Hunter Association had just put him on the extermination list. You actually probably just saved a bunch of lives."

I smiled, thinking of myself as a kind of hero.

"Well that's our job right." I concluded. "To protect humans and vampires."

Zero laughed grimly at the irony of the whole thing. I relaxed and decided to just let it go. My stomach growled and I realized I hadn't eaten in two days.

"Can I get out of here and eat?" I asked.

"Yea just put your jacket and shoes on." Zero said.

He got up and walked out the door so I could get up. I was really dizzy at first but after a minute I was ok. When I was dressed I went in the little bathroom to fix my hair. My reflection was like looking at a stranger. My skin was ghostly pale and my eyes were a deeper crimson than normal. My hair was tangled and messy and I still had blood on my clothes.

**"I look awful. No wonder everyone is worried."**

I looked around and found a pile of clean clothes and a hairbrush. I changed, quickly, adn did my best to pry the knots out of my long black hair. Once I felt at least slightly presentable, I went to go out the door, only to have it fly open before I got there. Mika and Lyaia cam barging in, nearly knocking me down.

"Vitalanie!" Mika yelled.

I jumped back, trying to avoid the swinging door.

"We heard you scream the other night and we wanted to check on you, but they wouldn't let us in." Lyaia said.

I smiled glad that they were so caring.

"Hey guys." I laughed. "Thanks for checking on me."

Mika frowned and looked at my neck.

"You should be healed by now, shouldn't you?" she asked.

"Yea, but he didn't just bite me." I explained. "He slashed the entire side of my neck really deep, so it takes longer to heal."

"Oh wow." she mumbled. "Are you gunna be alright?"

"I should be fine, yes." I said. "I'm actually going to eat right now."

"Alright. If you need us, let us know." Lyaia said.

"I will."

They waved and walked out a lot more peaceful than how they came in. I followed and found Zero talking to Senri and Headmaster Cross. Senri saw me first and immediately stopped talking. It made me feel really self conscious and I didn't like it.

"Raven." Senri called. "Are you sure you're up for eating right now?"

"Definitely." I assured him. "I'm starving."

"We can tell." he stated.

I looked at him with a puzzled expression. Headmaster Cross looked at me with sympathy.

"It's your fangs, Raven." he said. "And your eyes. Your fangs are long enough they're over your bottom teeth."

I licked my teeth and sure enough, I felt the sharp prick of extended canines. They were really long and sharp.

"Ouch." I mumbled.

"See." Senri said. "Do you really think it's a good idea to go into a lunchroom full of humans with your teeth like that?"

"I know what you're getting at, Senri." I stated. "I still don't want blood. I'm hungry for food."

Suddenly I wasn't tired anymore. I turned on my heel and started walking to the lunchroom.

"Rae, wait!" Senri called.

I stopped but kept my back to him. He stepped in front of me and held out something in his hand.

"My phone." I said, taking it.

"You might like to have it." he said. "And I know you wont hurt anyone, Sis. I'm just worried about you."

"I know that you are." I agreed. "But I'll be ok. Zero's going with me so if something does happen he'll be there."

I hugged him tight and kissed his cheek. Zero walked up and I let Senri go.

"Alright, just be careful." Senri ordered. "You're not going on patrol though."

"I wont I promise." I said .

He nodded as Zero and I walked on to the lunchroom. When I walked in the door, everyone got really quiet and stared. I didn't look at anybody as I got my food and sat down. Quiet murmuring filled the room and I could here what everyone was saying.

"Just ignore them, Raven." Zero said.

Mika and Lyaia sat down with us and smiled cheerfully.

"Hey Vitalanie." Lyaia greeted. "How ya feeling?"

"I'm alright I guess." I told her.

"That's good." she smiled. "Hey don't you worry about anything these people say, ok? You're gunna be just fine."

I couldn't help but smile at her. Honestly, the more time I spent with her and Mika, the more I liked them.

"Thanks Lyaia."

She nodded and turned her attention to her food. I had picked through what I wanted already, so I got up to throw away my garbage and said goodbye to the girls.

"You feel better?" Zero asked once we were outside.

"Yea." I breathed.

I had my eyes closed and my face turned up to soak in the sun creeping through the clouds. It wasn't a ton of light, but that tid-bit of warmth made me feel that much better.

"You didn't eat a lot." Zero stated.

I really hadn't and I was still hungry, but no matter what I had put in my mouth, it tasted awful.

"I'm full." I lied.

I knew Zero was going to call my bluff, so I opened my eyes and started walking to the pool. Being near the water always seemed to make me feel better. I found my favorite little shade tree and flopped down in the grass in front of it. Zero wordlessly sat next to me and together we stared at the ripples in the water.

**"My teeth hurt really bad. Senri said his teeth hurt when he needs blood. Do I need blood now?"**

The more I thought about it, the worse my fangs felt. My throat was beginning to burn and ache.

**"Please no..."**

I got up and began to make my way to the Moon dorm.

"Raven?" Zero called.

I looked back at him and immediately wished I hadn't. It was like I could see all his veins. The throbbing in my fangs was driving me crazy. I looked away and grabbed my head with one hand.

"I need to talk to Senri." I said.

I started walking again, and Zero quietly followed. He was close enough I could hear his heartbeat. It was like a soft gentle melody and it was making me lose my mind. After what felt like ages we got to the Moon dorm. The guard let us walk right in without so much as a passing glance. I opened the door and went in, but stopped short of the stairs. I forced myself to look at Zero.

"I'll be fine from here." I said. "It would be a good idea for you to tell Headmaster Cross where I am."

Zero looked like he was going to argue, but stopped himself. Instead, he gently hugged me. I could _ feel_ his heartbeat now and I knew if he didn't let go, I was going to do something I would regret. Thankfully he released me and walked out the door.

**"Thank God..."**

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding as I turned and walked up the stairs. I got to Senri's room and knocked on the door.

"Senri let me in."

The door opened, but instead of Senri, Ichijo was standing there.

"Where's Senri?" I asked.

"Asleep." Ichijo said. "After you went to eat, he came in and passed out. He hasn't slept since you got attacked."

I looked in the room and sure enough, Senri was laying on his bed asleep. I didn't look long though because the pain in my fangs was still getting to me. I shook my head and backed away from the door. I stumbled to the wall and slid down, grasping my throat.

"Raven!" Ichijo exclaimed.

He sat on his knees next to me and pulled my hands off my neck. He grabbed both my wrists in one hand and pried open my mouth with the other. After a moment he let my mouth close and looked into my eyes. He frowned and let go of my chin.

"Ichijo." I whispered. "What's wrong with me?" 

"You need blood." he stated. "You need to bite someone."


	12. New love

"I have to what?!" I exclaimed.

Ichijo shushed me and let go of my hands.

"You're going to have to drink someone's blood." he said.

"But I've never drank blood before in my life." I reminded him.

"I understand, but if you don't, you'll go crazy from bloodlust." he explained.

I whined and let my head fall back against the wall. Ichijo slid next to me and rubbed my shoulder. We both looked up when we heard a door open.

"What's going on?" Senri asked.

"Raven's going insane with bloodlust." Ichijo said bluntly.

Senri squatted in front of me and out his fingers under my chin. I opened my mouth so he could see my fangs.

"Yep." he mumbled. "She definitely needs blood."

"But I don't want to hurt anyone." I said.

Senri and Ichijo swapped glances. Ichijo shrugged and looked at me, then back at Senri.

"You can drink mine." Senri offered.

"No way." I refused. "I'm not taking anybody's blood."

Senri sat back on his butt and rubbed his temples. He was trying to think of a way to get me to drink his blood so I would feel better. The only problem was, I wasn't going to do it. I sat there silently and tried to ignore the intense burning in my throat. The sound of footsteps made me look up to see Rima coming down the hall. She sat next to me and offered a glass of water and two small pills.

"Blood tablets." She said. "Drop them in the water and sip it slowly."

I did as she said and after I had downed half the glass, I felt a little better. My throat had quit burning and my fangs didn't ache as bad.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yea." I smiled.

"Good. You look better already."

I looked at my skin and it really was a few shades darker.

"Thank you." I said.

Rima smiled and gently hugged me.

"It's not the same as drinking blood, but it helps." She explained. "You'll have to take them like or like normal pills from now on."

I nodded and stood up. Ichijo handed a small black box of blood tablets and smiled encouragingly. I turned to Senri and he was smiling as well.

"Thanks you guys." I said. "I'm really glad to know you're here for me."

"Always." Senri promised.

Ichijo out his arm around my shoulders and I leaned on him yawning. I was already tired again.

"Come on Rae." Ichijo said. "I'll get you to your dorm."

I stiffened my body and shook my head against his shoulder.

"I don't want to go there."

Senri opened the door to his room and motioned for Ichijo to lead me in.

"Then you can stay here with Ichijo and me." Senri said.

I was too tired to argue, so I climbed in Ichijo's bed and went to sleep. When I woke up it was dark and the guys were gone. I sat up and looked at eh bedside clock.

_"Ugh. Eight o'clock."_

There was a glass of water beside the clock and as soon as I saw it, my teeth started throbbing. I put a blood tablet in the water and slowly drank it. I felt better so I put my shoes on and walked out of the room, nearly bumping into Akatsuki.

"Hey, you're up." He said. "How ya' feeling?"

"I'm good." I said, smiling. "Why aren't you in class?"

"We're all taking turns watching the door so someone's here when you're up." He explained.

"Aw how nice." I laughed.

Akatsuki smiled and offered his arm to lead me to the classroom. I stopped at the door and waited on him to come back out with Senri. I got bored, so I sat down and against the wall and started humming to myself. I was beginning to wish I had my guitar as I practiced playing in the air.

"You've got a great voice, Raven."

I jumped, startled as Akatsuki's sudden appearance. Senri, Ichijo and Rima were standing there with him. I shook my head and looked down, certain my face was bright red.

"No I don't." I mumbled.

Senri rolled his eyes and hugged me.

"You look a lot better, Sis." He said. "You're eyes are still really red though."

"They'll stay that way until her heart pumps enough blood back into her body." Ichijo explained. "It will be a while."

"Well, in the meantime." I spoke up. "I'd like to go see the Headmaster."

"I'll take you." Ichijo offered.

I followed him out of the Moon Dorm into the night air. It was a clear night and all the stars were bright and beautiful. Snow was still on the ground, making me really uncomfortable. I kept looking at the trees and glancing over my shoulder, making sure I wasn't being followed. Every little movement caught my eye, making me jump or cringe.

"Calm down, Raven." Ichijo said, grabbing my hand. "I'm here, no one else."

"I can't help it." I admitted. "I feel like he's still here."

"He's not." Ichijo assured me. "You shot him yourself. He's gone."

"Hmm..."

I shook my head, forcing myself to think of something else.

"Am I gonna have to take blood tablets from now on?" I asked.

"More than likely." He answered. "But I'm not one hundred percent sure. Since you've never craved blood before, it may just be a response to blood loss."

I nodded and stayed quiet the rest of the way. Once there I said good nigh to Ichijo and quickly ducked in the door.

"Headmaster Cross?" I called.

The house was eerily quiet as I waited for a response. When non came, I began to searching for signs of life. I checked the kitchen first because the Headmaster was almost always cooking. Then I checked his office, bedroom, and bathroom only to find each room as vacant as the last. Finally I went to the study and collapsed in my favorite cushy, leather chair. I sighed and looked around the room, then screamed when I noticed the person laying on the couch. They woke up, no doubt startled by my scream, and I realized it was Zero.

"Raven!" He gasped. "You almost gave me a freaking heart attack!"

"I'm sorry." I apologized. "I didn't even know you were here. You didn't answer when I yelled."

Zero yawned, stretched and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked beyond exhausted. His hair was sticking up everywhere and his pale lavender eyes were dull, lifeless orbs with dark bags under them. He was slumped over as if he didn't have the strength to stay up.

"It's fine." He mumbled.

I got out of my chair and went next to him on the couch. I sat cross legged on one cushion, facing him. I carefully pushed his shoulders so he was leaning back, relaxed.

"Zero you look worse than I do." I said.

"I haven't been sleeping much." He stated.

"I can tell."

Zero just sighed and closed his eyes. I got up to get him a blanket and pillow from the bedroom.

"Lay back down." I ordered.

He did as I said, without protest which was really unlike him. I slid the pillow under his head and draped the blanket over him. The whole time he laid there wordlessly, not a single sound escaping his mouth. He stared at the ceiling without ever really focusing on anything at all. After I was sure he was alright, I sat down in the floor in front of his chest.

_"Poor Zero. He's been just as worried about me as Senri has."_

I heard him roll over and felt him run his fingers through my hair. It relaxed me and made me sleepy. I started humming quietly, more to keep myself awake than anything else. Zero started humming with me and honestly, he had a really good voice. For close to an hour we sat there like that, him playing with my hair the whole time.

"I was really worried about you." Zero said suddenly. "I thought I was too late. Then you woke up today and I felt so relieved. But you looked like _them_. I could _feel_ that you were vampire."

He kept playing with my hair, never pulling any tangles.

"I thought I wouldn't like it." He went on. "I expected myself to hate you, like most other vampires."

He paused, he hand on the back of my neck.

"But then I looked at you. Your sweet smile and kind, beautiful eyes. Even as a vampire hunter, I realized you're not at all like the others."

Zero sat up, then slid off the couch so he was seated next to me on the floor. He kept his left arm around my shoulders, his hand in my hair.

"You're not a vampire. You're just a cursed human. Yea, that's it."  
>"Zero, I am a vampire." I said. "I'm just different."<p>

I looked at him and he was looking at me, too. He seemed to be searching for something in my eyes.

"You're really different." He mumbled.

He looked away and went on running his hand through my hair.

"I really like it when you do that." I said. "It relaxes me."

"Good. I like being able to do something for you."

"You do a lot of stuff for me." I stated.

He responded by beginning to hum something really low. I sighed and leaned on his shoulder. He gently stroked my cheek with his thumb. I was falling asleep again.

"Thank you." I muttered.

Zero let go of my hair and pushed my shoulders back so he could see my face.

"No." he whispered. "Thank you."

"For what?" I asked, puzzled.

"For helping me realize not all vampires are bad." He stated. "And for giving me something to be happy about."

The latter statement took me by surprise. I'd never thought I had done anything for him.

_"If only he knew I crave blood now."_

I looked away, too afraid to tell him the truth. He grabbed my chin, making me look at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." I answered, too quickly. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"You're lying." he said, calling my bluff.

I didn't say anything. I just shook my head. Zero sighed, leaned back against the couch, and resumed playing with my hair.

"You just won't let me inside will you." He said more than asked. "Is it that you don't trust me or do you just not open up to anyone?"  
>"I really do trust you. I'm just, I don't like , I don't know." I stuttered. "It's hard to explain.<p>

I sighed and turned my whole body towards him. I stayed close, though, so he'd still play with my hair.

"I trust you, but I'm not _used_ to trusting someone. I'm used to only having my family and that's it. But then I came here and I met you and Senri's friends and I felt normal. I finally had friends and people I could be myself around and I don't want that to change." I finally spit out.

"Why would it?" Zero asked.

"Because the way I feel may have possibly changed." I blushed.

I expected him to either not understand, or be weirded out by what I was implying. Instead he looked at me, waiting on me to finish explaining myself.

"Are you saying you don't like your friends anymore?" he asked.

"No, that's not it."

"Then what is it Raven?"

I couldn't do it. I just couldn't tell Zero how I really felt about him. Plus, I wasn't even certain that I really felt that way. I shook my head and looked away again.

"It's nothing." I said, getting up. "Just let it go."

I went to the window and stared out at the black night sky. I wasn't afraid anymore, I was just slightly unnerved.

_"Well, now I need blood tablets and I'm hiding from my best friend. On top of that, I think I like him now. Ugh, this is just wonderful"_

I was completely lost in my thoughts, when Zero walked up beside me. He grabbed my hand with one of his own and used the other to brush the hair off my face.

"Raven." He said, softly.

I looked at him, his expression kind and open.

"I won't make you tell me what's going on." He said. "But I need to tell you something. You know I've lost people I care about because of vampire attacks. Each one had something in common. Every person I lost, I thought I had my whole life to spend with them, to tell them how much I care. Then, they were gone and I never told them how I felt."

He paused and just looked at me. I knew what he was going to say, I just couldn't believe it.

"I want you to know how I feel about you."

He dipped his head toward mine, keeping his gaze on my eyes. He used the hand that was on my shoulder to tilt my face up.

"Zero." I whispered.

He smiled, just a little, before pressing his lips to mine. His mouth was soft and sure. I knew it was coming, but it still took me by surprise. It sent chills down my spine and when he pulled away I could still feel the tingling on my lips. He kept his forehead against mine for just a moment, then stepped back a little.

"Z-Zero." I stuttered.

I wasn't even certain if I had kissed him back. He was looking at me, waiting on me to say something, but I was at a loss for words. I just threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. He hugged me back and kissed the top of my head.

"I love you, Raven." He whispered.


	13. Yagari-san

It had been almost two months since Zero kissed me in the Headmaster's house. Honestly, it hadn't really changed anything. We were still friends, we went on patrol and we did all the normal stuff we used to do. The only difference was that he would smile, and that was simply amazing.

_"It just makes my day."_

"Hey Rae, you coming?"

I turned to see Mika and Lyaia waiting on me by the door to our classroom. I had stopped and was looking out the window at the blanket of snow covering everything. It was mid-January and it definitely felt like it.

"Yea I'm coming." I said.

"Good, because our new Professor is coming today." Lyaia reminded me. "He's supposed to be really smart, almost as smart as Headmaster Cross."

"Impossible." I argued. "No one is as smart as he is."

Lyaia shrugged as Mika grabbed our arms and pulled us in the classroom.

"Just come on." She urged. "You can find out during class."

We went straight to our seats and sat down. I looked to my left and smiled at Zero, but he didn't smile back. He didn't even look at me. He was staring at the front of the room, his eyes hard. I looked and saw the new Professor sitting at his desk. He was rather weird looking. He had on jeans and boots with his feet up on the desk. His shirt was plain and he wore a brown leather jacket over it. It looked like he had a gun slung over his shoulder and a dirty old hat on his head. The thing that got me though, was the plate thing over the right side of his face.

"Ugh." I mumbled.

He had his head down, but as soon as I groaned, he looked up. His one eye was blue and looking right at me. I looked away and shuddered.

"Don't stare." Mika whispered. "He looks really creepy."

"I'm not convinced he's certified." Lyaia put in.

"Hey you three!"

The girls and I turned to see Captain Freckles, the class president, glaring down at us.

"You better act right!" he warned. "The new Professor will be with us for the next few weeks at least, and I'd like to enjoy them. So don't screw up!"

He proceeded to flop down in his chair and mumble angrily to himself.

"He's crankier than usual." Lyaia said.

"Yea, I don't like it." Mika added. "We should put a spell on him to make him happier."

"Or just make him a toad." I muttered.

The girls laughed earning another death glare from Captain Freckles. We got quiet and turned to the front, where the new Prof. had gotten up and was leaning against his desk. He now had a sucker in his mouth, making him look even weirder.

"Hello class." He greeted.

Everyone immediately got quiet and looked at him.

"I'm Professor Yagari and I'll be your new teacher for a little while." He said. "I'm only here while Professor Umagi is gone. When he returns, you will resume your regular schedule."

"Why is our schedule different?" Rayne asked from behind me.

"I teach a very _special _course and you are the students selected to take it." Professor Yagari explained.

I heard Zero mutter under his breath, so I glanced over at him. He was sitting propped on his elbows, still staring the front. I couldn't read his expression, so I turned back to Professor Yagari.

"Now," Yagari continued, "I teach a very specific type of Literature."

"But this was Math." Sara said.

Professor Yagari smiled eerily at her and I felt my stomach knot up.

"It's ok." He informed her. "I've got permission to teach you Lit."

No one else said anything.

_"Great. A whole day with this creeper. No, a few __**weeks**__ with this guy. Oh God…."_

"Now, I like the gothic era of American and British Literature. You know, Frankenstein, The Crucible, things like that. More specifically, witches, dragons, elves….vampires." he said the last with an evil smile.

I shuddered at the sheer awkwardness of the whole thing. He kept glancing at me, making really uncomfortable. He was talking and acting like eh **knew.**

"I don't like this guy." Mika whispered.

"He's creepy all right." I agreed.

We got quiet and listened to Professor Yagari teach. We all sat in silence as he told us his methods and all that what not. He gave us a huge list of books we would read and a chart to fill out as we read them. Then he said he wanted to get to know us. He made each of us tell him our names and a few personal traits or things we liked to do. When he got to me, he paused and gave his weird, evil smile.

"Raven Vitalanie Shiki." He said. "How nice to finally meet you. The Headmaster spoke very highly of you."

I'm pretty sure I turned red.

"Go on." He urged. "Tell me something **interesting** about you."

"Well, my eyes are red. " I said stating the obvious. "I'm athletic and I have a brother."

"Yes, Senri isn't it?"

I nodded. The Professor nodded as well, and then said he would start the lesson after lunch. He never called on Zero, just smiled at him and dismissed us. Mika, Lyaia and I immediately got up, but Zero stayed in his seat.

"Zero?" I called. "You coming?"

He nodded and got up. I looked at the Professor and he was watching us leave. Zero put his hand on my waist, ushering me out the door. Once we had made it to the lunchroom and sat down, I turned to Zero.

"What's up with you?" I asked.

"Bad day." He muttered.

He didn't even look at me. He just picked at his food. I sighed and turned back to my own tray of stuff. Mika touched my arm and smiled.

"Don't worry." Lyaia mouthed. "It's not you."

I shrugged. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry. I got up to throw my tray away, leaving Zero and the girls staring after me. I decided to go outside and sit under my favorite tree for a while. IT was cold and snowing, but I didn't mind. I relaxed on the ground and tried to just think. I knew I hadn't done anything to Zero, but why was he so upset? It couldn't possibly be the new Professor.

"What are you doing out here?"

I looked up to see Senri standing over me.

"I'm thinking." I said.

"Be careful." He joked. "You don't want to hurt yourself do you?"

I laughed and stood up, knocking snow off myself.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just checking on you." He said.

He glanced around, almost like he was making sure no one was watching us.

"You should get to class." He said, pushing me to the door.

"Ok?"

He shoved me in and pulled the door shut.

_"Well. I guess I'll go to class."_

I made my way back to the room, but stopped short of going in. I could here voices arguing. It was Zero and Professor Yagari.

"….not her!"

"Zero! Who else?"

"I don't know, but it's not her!"

"I'll find out."

I heard Zero growl and start walking to the door. I quickly made myself invisible as he walked by. Mike and Lyaia were coming down the hall, so he stopped them.

"Where's Raven?" he demanded.

"We don't know." Mika said.

"The last we saw, she was going out the door." Lyaia added.

Zero stormed on down the hall and once I was certain he was gone, I appeared to the girls. I think they had already seen me, because they just looked at me.

"What's wrong with him?" they asked together.

I told them what I had just overheard.

"But I don't know who or what they were talking about." I admitted.

Mika furrowed her brow, thinking. She started to say something, but the bell rang.

"We'll talk about it later." I said.

We went back in the classroom and found Zero already in his seat. He had that same emotionless stare again, so I just sat down, not saying a word. Once we were all seated, Professor Yagari began his lesson.

"I'd like to cover something that would be a little exciting for you guys." He began. "So how about vampires?"

I immediately felt the tension in the room from Rayne and Allen, the two other vampires in the room.

"What do you say, class." Yagari asked.

We all just kind of nodded, not that we really had the choice to protest anyway. He then launched into a long story on the history of vampires and what evil people they were.

"But there were people who thought vampires could be good people." He scoffed. "They wanted to tame vampires and make them their ally."

He smiled wickedly and held up Zero's charm bracelet. Zero sucked in his breath and grabbed his wrist. I looked over at him and sure enough, it was gone.

"Miss Shiki." Professor Yagari called. "Would you like to be my assistant?"

I hesitantly got up and walked down to his desk. I braced myself for what I knew was about to happen.

"Now ,the tamers would take bracelets like this," he explained, "and put tattoos on the vampires. No offense to you, Raven, I just noticed you had a tattoo."

I shrugged.

"The tamers would put one drop of the vampire's blood on the bracelet, binding the two. Then when the vampire would go crazy, they did this."

He held the bracelet close to my neck and instant pain filled my body. I knew my marks would glow, so I quickly slid my hand behind my back and made sure my hair was covering the part of tattoo Yagari's hand didn't. I stayed perfectly still while he slowly explained what he was doing. I looked at Zero, pleading to him with my eyes.

"Alright!" Allen said.

"We get it!" Zero growled.

Professor Yagari smiled and pulled the charm away from me. My head was spinning, but I fought the urge to fall.

"Thank you, Raven." He said.

I nodded and walked back to my seat. I slowly sank down in my chair, cringing the whole time.

_"There's no way. But he knows. He wouldn't have picked me if he didn't."_

The rest of the day flew by and before I knew it, we were being dismissed. Zero helped me up and guided me out the door.

"Raven! Zero!" Yagari called.

We turned and looked at him.

"Zero, I think you should formally introduce us." He said.

Zero growled, but did as he was told.

"Raven, this is Yagari, from the Vampire Hunter Association. He was my Master."


	14. Surveillance

Zero was looking at me, waiting on me to say something.

"So he's a vampire hunter." I stated. "He's the one that taught you everything you know."

Zero nodded.

"And now he's our teacher." I went on. "And he's telling the class vampire secrets. Secrets only we as vampires should know."

"Raven, dear." Professor Yagari said. "All vampire hunters know."

I glared at him in disgust.

"Don't 'dear me'" I gaped. "You just put me through some of the worst stuff imaginable."

Yagari smiled apologetically. I rolled my eyes.

"So let me guess." I said. "You're here because you're after all vampires because you hate us?"

"Actually, no." He cut in. "I'm here to monitor you."

"It wasn't her!" Zero growled.

I jumped at his sudden outburst. Professor Yagari held up his hands defensively.

"Its orders Zero." He said. "I can't do anything about it."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Humans have been killed by a rouge vampire and they think it's you." Yagari explained. "They knew of you being attacked and how you craved blood."

"But that shouldn't make her a suspect!" Zero protested.

"Ok, so because I'm suddenly more like a normal vampire, I'm being accused of killing someone." I recapped.

Yagari nodded.

"Whatever." I mumbled and turned to leave.

"Wait, that's it?" Zero questioned.

"Yea." I said. "He can 'supervise' me all he wants, but I didn't do anything."

Zero didn't say anything, so I walked on out. He followed after getting his bracelet back. We walked in silence, and I noticed Senri outside one of windows. He motioned for me to go outside and talk to him, so I did. Of course, Zero came with.

"So now you know huh?" Senri asked.

"Yes and I think its stupid." I stated bluntly. "I didn't do anything."

"It's just precaution I guess." Zero offered.

I turned and glared at him.

"You were just arguing with him, now you're defending him?!" I yelled.

Zero looked down at his feet. I rolled my eyes and stormed off toward the Sun Dorm. Mika and Lyaia were waiting on me so we could practice. They saw I was upset, so we just went straight to the woods. About the time we got to the clearing, I realized I had left Zero to change classes on his own.

_"Oh well.."_

"Alright." Lyaia said. "Let's work on controlling your fire."

"You've got a quick, hot temper, so you can create fire really well." Mika said. "You just need to work on keeping your temper _**out**_ of the fire. The more anger you out into it, the harder it is to control."

I nodded, ready to get to work.

"Ok then. Set this pile of leaves on fire."

I merely glanced at it, and it was up in flames.

"Keep calm." Mika ordered. "Don't let the leaves turn to ash."

I focused on keeping the fire just on the top leaves. It worked for a minute, then I got to thinking of Zero. It made me upset all over again and I immediately set the other leaves aflame. They were swallowed up and burned to nothing. I groaned and flopped down in the grass. Mika grouped a new pile of leaves and put them right in front of me.

"Do it again." She demanded. "Focus."

I sighed and looked at the leaves. Just like the first time, they immediately caught fire. I focused only on the top leaves and keeping the flame on them. Once they were burned up, I let the fire die. I smiled, proud of myself.

"I knew you could do it." Lyaia smiled.

I got up, feeling better.

"Mika, I've only got one question." I said. "Where did the leaves come from?"  
>The girls laughed.<p>

"Our room." They said.

I nodded, not at all surprised they had green leaves in the dead of winter.

"I know it's only been a few minutes, but I need to go." I said. "Sorry guys."

They smiled, understanding, and I took of run towards the education building. I was almost there when I heard something on the roof. It sounded like a guitar or someone singing. Actually, it was like both. I ducked under the awning, not wanting to disturb whoever it was. They were playing very softly, so even with my supernatural hearing; it was hard to make out. I really wanted to know who it was, so I quickly turned invisible and quietly climbed the tree that was closest to the building. I perched silently on a branch even with the roof, so I could see just over the edge.

_"Zero!?"_

He was sitting with his back to the wall of the third level, playing guitar and singing softly.

_"Skillet? They've only got a few slow songs, but it sounds like them."_

He stopped suddenly and I was worried he'd heard me. But instead, he laid his guitar down, stood up, and turned to face Professor Yagari, who had Came out of nowhere.

"Still playing that old thing I see." Yagari stated.

Zero looked at him with a very sarcastic expression.

"I know you could care less about my guitar playing." He said. "What do you want?"

"I told you that already." Yagari retorted. "I'm here to keep an eye on your little vampire girlfriend."

Zero reaction was like flipping a switch. He went from calm and collected to majorly pissed off just like that. He clenched his fists and turned away.

"It's only my job Zero." Yagari went on. "I have to do this. Besides, aren't you the one that wanted to end all vampires?"

He smiled menacingly as he finished talking. Zero spun around and pointed his gun, Bloody Rose, right at Yagari. Yagari simply laughed.

"You know it's useless to use an anti-vampire weapon on a human."

"Yea, but after I pull the trigger I can close my eyes and pretend you're gone." Zero growled, venom dripping in his voice.

I decided then would be a good time to make my appearance. I jumped onto the roof and quit cloaking myself. Both guys looked at me, Yagari smiling and Zero aggravated and scowling. I walked over to them and grabbed Zero's wrist, pushing it, and the gun, away from Yagari's face.

"Hello vampire." Yagari greeted me.

"She has a name." Zero growled.

"Name or no name she's still a vampire."

I turned to him my teeth aching, throat burning. I tried to smile but I knew my hard eyes gave me away.

"Hello, hunter." I said. "I've got a question for you."

He smiled, a real smile, and I felt a little less creeped out.

"Ask away."

"Why am I the only one being monitored?" I asked.

"You're the only vampire to recently crave blood." He explained. "And by that I mean the list of Level E's has dropped and the ones left have been under constant watch. The Association and Vampire Council both knew what would happen if you were ever attacked, so you immediately became a suspect. Even though you are a very well respected Pureblood."

I nodded, feeling a little better now that I finally understood the situation.

"Ok." I said. "One more thing."

He nodded, implying I could carry on.

"Are you really going to monitor me _**all**_ the time?" I asked.

He laughed whole heartedly and it was actually a nice sound, unlike his previous creeper laughs.

"Of course not." He said. "I'll be teaching the Night Class and I cant watch your room. Really you'll only see me during class. That's why you're in one class all day."

"Alright."

"Now I have to get to class. Farewell."

I sighed and sat down. Zero sat next to me, picking up his guitar.

"Play me something." I said. "Please."

He immediately began playing another quiet, slow song. This time I knew it was Skillet. I quietly sang along as he played Yours to Hold. I loved Skillet and I listened to them all the time. I never knew Zero could play their music though. He finished the song and I took the guitar from him before he could play anything else. He looked at me as if he was asking if I knew how to play. I answered his unspoken question by beginning to play a song.

"So you can play." He muttered. "Sing."

I exhaled slowly, and then began singing.

"Your voice is amazing Raven." Zero stated.

I shook my head, blushing.

"And you play really well." He went on.

"I think you're biased." I said.

He shrugged then gave me one of his rare smiles, making my heart melt. I couldn't help but smile back. I quit playing and gently laid Zero's guitar down. He was looking at me kinda odd and I didn't know why. He looked worried.

"Don't look at me like that." I ordered. "It's almost depressing."

I put my hands over his face, playfully and gently pushed. He grabbed my right hand and kissed my tattoo, before lacing his fingers through mine. He still had that worried expression, though.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Don't say nothing."

He looked down at our hands, not keeping my gaze. He played with my fingers and traced my mark. I could tell he was thinking about how to word his thoughts, so I stayed quiet and let him think.

"I don't like the Hunter Association being here." He confessed. "It's going to cause an issue with the Night class."

"You could care less about the Night class, Zero." I scoffed. "What's really bothering you?"

"They're accusing you of murder!" he yelled suddenly.

I just shook my head.

"I'll be fine."


End file.
